Thermal Comfort in a Naturally-Ventilated Educational Building

Abstract

A comprehensive study of thermal comfort in a naturally ventilated education building (88,000 ft2) in a Chicago suburb will be conducted with 120 student subjects in 2007. This paper discusses some recent trends in worldwide thermal comfort studies and presents a proposal of research for this building through a series of questionnaire tables. Two research methods used inthermal comfort studies are field studies and laboratory experiments in climate-chambers. The various elements that constitute a "comfortable” thermal environment include physical factors (ambient air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air movement and humidity), personal factors(activity and clothing), classifications (gender, age, education, etc.) and psychological expectations (knowledge, experience, psychological effect of visual warmth by, say, a fireplace). Comparisons are made using data gathered from Nairobi, Kenya.Keywords: Comfort, temperature, humidity and ventilation