Comparative Study on Thermal Comfort of People from Different Climate Zones in Summer

Abstract

To determine the thermal comfort of people from different climate zones in the naturally ventilated building in summer, subjects were divided into two groups, namely: (a) HSCW group—subjects who grew up in the hot summer and cold winter zone, and (b) CZ group—subjects who had lived in the cold zone. Field studies were performed from May to July 2018. The results indicate that the neutral operative temperature were 24.6 and 24.0 °C in HSCW group and CZ group, respectively. The upper limit of 80% acceptable operative temperature of the latter was 2.5 °C higher than the former. There were no significant differences between local skin temperatures and mean skin temperatures except for the hand back and thigh in two groups. The adaptive coefficient (λ) were 0.52 (CZ) and 1.0 (HSCW). The subject’s heat-resistance capacity and thermal adaptability in HSCW were better than CZ group.