Accepted Manuscript

A comparison of winter indoor thermal environment and thermal comfort between

regions in Europe, North America, and Asia

Nan Zhang, Bin Cao, Zhaojun Wang, Yingxin Zhu, Borong Lin

PII: S0360-1323(17)30092-6
DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.03.006
Reference: BAE 4838

To appear in: Building and Environment

Received Date: 5 January 2017

Revised Date: 26 February 2017
Accepted Date: 2 March 2017

Please cite this article as: Zhang N, Cao B, Wang Z, Zhu Y, Lin B, A comparison of winter indoor thermal
environment and thermal comfort between regions in Europe, North America, and Asia, Building and
Environment (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2017.03.006.

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

A comparison of winter indoor thermal environment and thermal comfort

between regions in Europe, North America, and Asia

Nan Zhang a,b, Bin Cao *,a,b, Zhaojun Wang c, Yingxin Zhu a,b, Borong Lin a,b

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a
Department of Building Science, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
b
Key Laboratory of Eco Planning & Green Building, Ministry of Education (Tsinghua University),
Beijing 100084, China

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c
School of Municipal & Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin,
Heilongjiang 150090, China

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*
Corresponding email: caobin@tsinghua.edu.cn (B. Cao)

Abstract

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Along with the improvement of living quality, indoor thermal comfort has been drawing increasing
attentions. In this paper, a comparison between South Europe, North America and Asia on winter
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indoor thermal environments, occupants’ clothing insulations and their thermal sensations was
conducted. The compared regions all locate in similar latitude range of temperate climate zone
(northern latitude 39°54’~53°31’). Field study data representing 10 cities chosen from ASHRAE
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RP-884, SCATs and China thermal comfort databases were used for the comparative study. It was
observed that the indoor operative temperature and relative humidity varied from regions. European
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and North American cities had higher temperature while temperature of Chinese cities was the lowest.
Among the three regions, indoor environments in Europe and China met well with the comfort
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requirements in their own regional or national standard, while North America had the highest ratio of
matching the comfort zones no matter in which standard. Most of the off-comfort-zone conditions in
Europe were due to overheating, contrary to those in China were mainly overcooling. Clothing
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insulation of Chinese was the highest and had a wider range. The winter neutral temperature for
Europe, North America and China were 23.4, 22.7 and 21.7°C respectively. A comparison between
TSV and PMV was made and obvious deviation features were discovered. Europeans tend to feel
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colder than predicted when indoor temperature is out of the neutral zone. Chinese TSVs were closer to
neutral than they were predicted by PMV, while North Americans showed an opposite result.
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Keywords: temperate zone; thermal environment; thermal comfort; clothing insulation; winter

Nomenclature
Ta Air temperature
Tr Mean radiant temperature
Tg Globe temperature
Rh Relative humidity
V Air speed
Icl Clothing insulation
Met Metabolic rate
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Tout Outdoor temperature
Rhout Outdoor relative humidity
PMV Predicted mean vote
TSV Thermal sensation vote
TCV Thermal comfort vote
TA Thermal acceptance
TP Thermal preference
AMA Air movement acceptability

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AMP Air movement preference

1. Introduction

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Thermal comfort is defined as the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal
environment and is assessed by subjective evaluation in ASHRAE Standard 55 [1]. With the
increasing level of living quality, people’s requirement on indoor thermal environment has become an

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important concern, which resulted in rapid development of HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air
Conditioning) technology and equipment, meanwhile enhancing energy use and emission of
greenhouse gas. To determine a balance between thermal comfort and energy saving has become a

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worldwide challenge.
An appropriate winter indoor temperature is rather essential for occupants to feel comfortable in a
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neutral-cold environment. Moreover, heating energy consumption accounts for large parts of the total
building energy consumption [2].
In Europe, Nicol and Humphreys did research on occupant adaptive behaviors and established
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equations for adaptive thermal comfort [3][4]. More field studies were also conducted in different
European countries, such as UK, Italy, German, and Portugal [5]-[8]. Thermal comfort studies,
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especially through field measurements and investigations have attracted increasing attentions in China
since late 1990s. Regional differences in China are significant because of various climate zones,
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different building characteristics and different living habits. Based on the field survey results from 12
Chinese cities, separate adaptive thermal comfort models have been established for four distinct
Chinese climate zones by Yan el at. [9]. Other researchers have conducted field studies in specific
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types of climate zones, including hot summer and warm winter zone (Zhang el at. [10][11]), hot
summer and cold winter zone (Wang el at. [12] and Liu el at. [13]), cold zone (Cao el at. [14]), and
severe cold zone (H. Ning et al. [15]).
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In 2013, de Dear et al. reviewed the progress in thermal comfort research over the last twenty years
[16]. More field studies have been conducted in diverse building types such as residence [17], office
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[18][19], primary school [20][21], elderly care center [22][23] during recent years. Besides, new
research topics have been emerging as well. Researchers in China performed studies on the influences
of air flow in neutral-warm environments [24][25]. Their research results show that appropriate air
flow improves occupants’ thermal comfort. Zhang el at. [26] and Zhai et al. [27] in the US also
discussed about the positive effects of air movements on thermal comfort. Moreover, researchers
considered Personal Control System (PCS) as an energy-efficient way to provide comfortable
environment and put more emphasis on local thermal comfort [28]-[30].
Although few thermal comfort researches have been conducted on winter condition compared with
summer condition, many experts have already carried out relevant researches and achieved some
results. Luo el at. [31] investigated several residential buildings in two cities in China (Beijing and
Shanghai), and found that people with a larger ability of personal control tend to accept a wider range
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of indoor thermal environments. A research about the comparison of residential heating modes was
conducted in Beijing in the form of field studies by Cao el at. [32]. Wang el at. [33] conducted field
studies in university classrooms and offices in Harbin and found that human thermal sensations were
related to both indoor and outdoor climates. Cao [34] also compared winter thermal environment and
occupants’ clothing, thermal sensation, thermal preference and thermal acceptance in different climate
zones in China and discovered some differences. Moreover, it can be concluded that the comfortable
temperature and the features of occupants’ thermal sensation vary from country to country [35].

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Figure 1. Long-term trends in winter-time residential temperatures in the UK, the US,
Japan and northern China [35]
Based on current research status, authors of this paper intended to analyze raw data and believed that
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some detail differences and features can be found. Those differences may be caused by different
heating equipment, heating policies, cultures, races and other reasons need to be discovered.
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Thermal comfort databases, such as ASHRAE RP-884 [36] and SCATs, were established to share field
study results and support comparative research. The thermal comfort requirements may vary with
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regional differences, the awareness of which can provide suitable design and management guidelines
for local needs. On the basis of existing databases and field experiments, this study aimed to make a
comparison on winter indoor thermal environment and thermal comfort between different regions
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located in similar latitude range.

Eight cities from five countries, UK, France, Portugal, Canada and USA, were chosen from the two
databases for analyzing. The eight cities locate in the similar latitude of temperate zone. However,
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both of the two databases are lack of the data from east Asia. This data mining study additionally
added field study data from Beijing and Harbin, which are acquired by authors of this paper.
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Variances of data type exist in different databases and field studies due to different primary research
purposes and respective limitations. The next table gives a brief summary about recorded parameters
in the 10 chosen raw datasets.
It is notable that Beijing data come from field studies conducted in 3 different periods and places by
Tsinghua University (classroom field study in 2007-2008, classroom field study in 2011-2012 and
dormitory field study in 2011-2012). The research conditions, such as measuring instruments,
protocols are not exactly the same, which result in some “incomplete” parameters. Similarly, Harbin
data come from two different field studies conducted by Harbin Institute of Technology. Different
study conditions make some parameters “incomplete”.
Based on the raw data, winter indoor and outdoor thermal environments, occupants’ clothing
insulations, their thermal sensation votes (TSV) and predicted mean votes (PMV) were analyzed and
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compared.
Table 1. A brief summary about recorded parameters in the 10 chosen raw datasets
South Europe North America Asia

South Grand
Merseyside London Lyon Porto Ottawa Montreal Beijing Harbin
Wales Rapid

Ta
Tr 

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Rh
V 

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Icl
Met
Tout  

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Rhout  
PMV
TSV

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TCV
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TA 
TP  
AMA
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AMP  
Gender 
Age     
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‘ ’ means the parameter data information in the corresponding dataset is complete. ‘’ means the
parameter data information in the corresponding dataset is incomplete. ‘ ’ means the parameter is not
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recorded in the corresponding dataset.

2. Methods
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Except for field studies in Beijing, all the investigating data from other cities and continents are come
from existing databases and field studies.
2.1 Field studies in Beijing
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Two field study including measurements of indoor environmental parameters and investigations of
respondents’ subjective sensations was conducted in student dormitories and classrooms in Beijing in
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winter of 2007, 2008 and 2011. All respondents were university students, most of which were younger
than 25 years old. Males were more than females, with a ratio of about 6:5. Physical parameters
including air temperature, relative humidity, mean radiant temperature and air flow velocity were
measured. Air temperature and relative humidity were self-recorded with 10-min intervals at 1.0 m
height above the floor, while mean radiant temperature and air flow velocity were measured at
scheduled times. The instruments used in the measurements are temperature and relative humidity
recording device, globe thermometer and hot-wire anemometer. The accuracy of the instruments is
presented in Table 2.
Table 2. Physical measurements and instrument accuracy.
Parameter Valid range Accuracy
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Ta(°C) 5-35 ±0.2°C
Rh(%) 20-80 ±3%
V(m/s) 0-3 ±5%
Tg(°C) 5-50 ±0.2°C
Respondents' subjective thermal evaluations were investigated using questionnaires, according to
Appendix E in ASHRAE Standard 55 [1]. Table 3 illustrates the index scales of thermal sensation,
thermal comfort, thermal acceptance, and thermal preference. The questionnaire also inquires personal
information including gender, age, weight and height. The interviewees were asked about their activity

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level and what clothes they were wearing, so that the metabolic rate and clothing insulation could be
estimated.
Table 3. Thermal comfort index scale.

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Scale TSV TCV TA TP
4 — Unbearable — —

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3 Hot Very uncomfortable — —
2 Warm Uncomfortable Very acceptable —
1 Slightly warm Slightly uncomfortable Just acceptable Warmer

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0 Neutral Comfortable — No change
-1 Slightly cool — Just unacceptable Cooler
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-2 Cool — Very unacceptable —
-3 Cold — — —
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2.2 Data selection from existing databases

Besides the measured data in Beijing and Harbin, all the other data used in this paper are selected from
existing databases: ASHRAE RP-884 and SCATs. We filtered those data mainly considering from
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three aspects: buildings locate in the temperate climate zone or not; datasets include winter data or not;
buildings have heating supply or not during winter. In this way we got winter thermal comfort field
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study data from 10 cities to analyze and compare.

The 10 cities are located within a same latitude range (northern latitude 39°54’~53°31’) in the north
temperate zone, which ensure the comparability between cities. There are 5 cities in Europe, 3 cities in
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North America and 2 cities in China. Figure 2 illustrates the geographical locations and climate zones
for the 10 cities. Table 4 provides some more information such as the time period and sample size of
field study in each city. The investigated building types are various, including office buildings,
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teaching buildings, residence, etc. All the selected field studies were conducted in winter. The majority
of them are public buildings and all of them have heating equipment in winter. Due to the
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inconformity of recorded data in different databases, the mainly compared parameters in this study are
indoor operative temperature, relative humidity, occupants’ clothing insulation, TSV and PMV.
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Merseyside
Ottawa South Wales London
Lyon Harbin
Montreal
Grand Rapids Beijing

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Porto

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Figure 2. Geographical location and climate types of the 10 cities
Table 4. Information of selected data of 10 cities
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Continent City Climatic region Database Time Sample size
South Wales, UK Temperate marine ASHRAE 1992-1993 38
Merseyside, UK Temperate marine ASHRAE 1994-1995 330 1616
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Europe London, UK Temperate marine SCATs 1998-1999 457 in

Lyon, France Temperate continental SCATs 1998-1999 250 total
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Porto, Portugal Temperate marine SCATs 1998-1999 541

Ottawa, Canada Humid mid-latitude ASHRAE 1994-1995 1859
2370
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North Montreal, Canada Continental subarctic ASHRAE 1995 426

in
America Grand Rapid, MI,
Humid mid-latitude ASHRAE 1992 85 total
USA
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China 2007-2008,
Beijing, China Temperate monsoon 1099 1425
database 2011-2012
Asia in
China 2000-2001,
Harbin, China Temperate monsoon 326 total
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database 2011-2012
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3. Results
3.1 Outdoor climate
ASHRAE database records the outdoor climate parameters (air temperature, relative humidity and
ET* at 6 a.m. and 15 p.m.). The outdoor climate data of other cities were downloaded from a website
(http://globalweather.tamu.edu/). On this website, daily weather data (temperature, precipitation, wind,
relative humidity, and solar) are available. Outdoor daily mean temperature is regarded as the average
of outdoor daily minimum and maximum temperature. Table 5 lists the ranges of outdoor temperature
and relative humidity of the 10 cities during the time when the field studies were conducted there.
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Table 5. Outdoor temperature and relative humidity

Tout (°C) Rhout (%)

average minimum maximum average minimum maximum

South Wales 5.8 3.8 9.6 20.2 17.9 22.8
Merseyside 8.7 4.5 10.1 22.4 18.6 25.9
London 8.1 2.3 11.7 24.3 19.9 36.5
Lyon -0.8 -8.7 8.5 23.1 18.1 27.2

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Merseyside 8.7 4.5 10.1 22.4 18.6 25.9
Porto 7.6 1.7 15.0 22.9 15.8 30.6
Ottawa 4.5 -12.9 19.2 22.7 18.5 25.6

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Montreal -6.7 -24.9 6.0 22.6 19.9 25.0
Grand Rapid 0.7 -0.6 1.9 23.2 22.3 24.1

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Beijing 1.0 -10.0 14.1 21.4 8.4 27.7
Harbin -8.9 -18.4 2.0 24.3 21.3 27.1

3.2 Indoor operative temperature and relative humidity

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Field study data of ten cities were applied to figure out the difference of indoor environmental
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parameters in different regions located in temperate zone in winter. Figure 3 and 4 present the
distributions of the operative temperature and relative humidity of the buildings in 10 cities. The city
order is arranged by average value for each continent in both box charts. For the operative temperature,
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Beijing and South Wales have the lowest level. London has the highest level. However, the average
temperature value of Europe is much higher than China. Different from Europe and Asia (China),
North America holds a narrower operative temperature range.
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The average level of indoor relative humidity of the buildings in three North American cities and two
Chinese cities are lower than 40%. On the contrary, the indoor relative humidity in European cities are
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higher than 40% except for Lyon. This result can be attributed to the climatic region difference. Lyon
is located in the east of France and has a different climatic type - temperate continental climate, while
the climate of the other four European cities are temperate marine climate. Compared with temperate
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marine climate, the continental climate shows less rain and much lower humidity. Therefore, although
the five cities in Europe are located in similar latitude regions, indoor relative humidity of Lyon is
much lower than other European cities influenced by outdoor climate. For the North American and
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Chinese cities, indoor relative humidity situation can also be owning to corresponding climatic
regions.
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To investigate the temperature distribution property of three regions, Figure 5 shows the frequency
distribution histogram of indoor operative temperature of three regions. It is clear that the most
common indoor operative temperature in China range from 18 to 22°C. Nevertheless, the most
common range operative temperature in south Europe and North America is 22-26°C, with the
frequency about 0.7.
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Europe
35
North America
Asia (China)

Operative temperature/?
30

25

20

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15

10

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5
l
ales side orto Lyon don t rea t awa apid ijing rbin
W se y P n n Ot nd R Be Ha
Lo M o

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outh Mer ra
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Figure 3. Indoor operative temperature ranges in 10 cities’ field studies

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80 Europe
North America
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70 Asia (China)
Relative Humidity/%

60
50
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40
30
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20

10
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0
l
e h

s
n

a d

n
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g
a

i
t
o

e
o

n
it

wn

b
i
y

j
de

r
s

i
a
t

a
L

t
n

a
y

e
n

t G
P

R
o

H
o

B
O
s
L

a
r
o
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Figure 4. Indoor relative humidity ranges in 10 cities’ field studies

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0.8
Frequency distribution histogram of Asia (China)
0.7
indoor operative temperature North America
0.6 Europe

0.5

0.4

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0.3

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0.2

0.1

SC
0
<=10 (10, 14] (14, 18] (18, 22] (22, 26] (26, 30] >30
Temperature interval/°
°C

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Figure 5. Frequency distribution histogram of indoor operative temperature of three regions
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3.3 The relationship between outdoor climate and indoor environment
Outdoor climate can strongly influence indoor environment in free-running buildings. However, when
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it comes to mechanically controlled buildings, such as the cases in this study, the influence of outdoor
climate is limited.
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Figure 6 shows the scatterplot of indoor operative temperature against outdoor daily mean temperature
in Europe, North America and Asia. Difference can be observed between the three regions, especially
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between North America and Asia. Although cities in the US and Canada experience wide range of
outdoor daily mean temperature, their indoor temperature remain stable at 20-25°C. The indoor
operative temperatures in North America are concentrated and less fluctuant. Nevertheless, the indoor
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operative temperatures in China are scattered. For example, in China when the outdoor temperature is
at the level of -2~0°C, the maximum indoor operative temperature can be higher than 25°C and the
minimum can be lower than 15°C. If looking at the European data, many of their indoor operative
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temperatures are higher than 25°C.

Generally, the main reason of scattering data in Asia may be the regional heating differences in China.
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Overheating happens more in Harbin, which is why the average indoor operative temperature in
Harbin is higher than that in Beijing (see Figure 3). Another reason causing scattering data in Asia,
especially low-temperature data, is due to the behavior of opening windows. The temperature points
which are lower than 10°C are from classroom field studies in Beijing, where some students may open
windows during the break time in order to improve indoor air quality.
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40

35
Operative temperature/℃
℃

30

25

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20

15
Europe

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10 North America
Asia(China)

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5
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30
Outdoor daily mean temperature/℃
℃

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Figure 6. Indoor operative temperature against outdoor daily mean temperature in three regions
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3.4 Clothing insulation
Clothing insulation has a great impact on thermal sensation of occupants. According to the field data
we chose from the databases, the insulation ranges are 0.17-1.62clo for Europe, 0.23-1.8clo for North
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America and 0.35-2.24clo for Asia (China), as shown in Figure 7. The average values are 0.79clo,
0.79clo and 1.06clo for Europe, North America and Asia (China) respectively.
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The average clothing insulation in Asia is 0.27clo higher than Europe and North America, which could
be explained by the difference of indoor temperature. It can be concluded from Figures 3, 5 and 6 that
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the indoor operative temperature in Asia is lower than that in Europe and North America. On the basis
of heat balance, lower indoor temperature leads to more human body heat loss, which makes Chinese
to wear more clothes to keep warm. Besides, many existed studies reported that Chinese/Asians have
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lower basal metabolic rate than westerns /whites [37][38]. According to the PMV function, people
with lower metabolic rate need to wear more clothes to keep themselves feel neutral under the same
thermal environment.
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Figure 8 illustrates the distribution of clothing insulation against operative temperature in three regions.
Each data point presents the average clothing insulation value calculated within a temperature interval
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of 0.5°C. It can be concluded that clothing insulation of Chinese is the highest and has a wider range.
Meanwhile European and North American share a similar clothing insulation level, which is lower
than that of Chinese. Figure 9 draws the relationship between clothing insulation and outdoor daily
mean temperature. Comparing Figures 8 and 9, clothing insulation changing tendency is more relevant
to indoor temperature than outdoor temperature for all the three regions, which is due to the effect of
indoor heating supply.
Considering discrete distribution of Asians’ clothing insulation, we analyzed Asian data more deeply.
Clothing insulation was divided into five levels: 0-0.3clo, 0.3-0.5clo, 0.5-0.7clo, 0.7-1.0clo, and higher
than 1.0clo. As shown in Figure 10, circles with different colors and sizes represent different clothing
insulation levels. Each TSV value was calculated by using the mean value of clothing insulation at
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each level within a temperature interval of 2°C. Figure 10 obviously illustrates the influence of clothes
adaptation on thermal sensation, that people feel warmer if wearing more clothes at the same
temperature level.

2.24
2
Clothing insulation/clo

1.80

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1.62

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1 1.06
0.79 0.79

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0.35
0.17 0.23

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0
Europe North America Asia (China)
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Figure 7. Box chart of clothing insulation of three regions
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Clothing insulation/clo

1.5
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Europe
0.5
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North America
Asia (China)
0
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5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Indoor operative temperature/℃
℃
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Figure 8. Clothing insulation against indoor operative temperature

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Clothing insulation/clo
1.5

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Europe
0.5
North America
Asia (China)

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0
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20
Outdoor daily mean temperature/℃
℃

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Figure 9. Clothing insulation against outdoor daily mean temperature
3

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Asia
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2

1
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TSV

0
8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
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-1
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(0, 0.3] (0.3, 0.5]

-2
(0.5, 0.7] (0.7, 1]
(1,+∞) Ave
-3
Indoor operative temperature/°
°C
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Figure 10. The influence of different occupants' clothing insulations on thermal sensation (Asia)
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3.5 Thermal sensation vote (TSV)

Thermal sensation vote (TSV) is a subjective evaluation index, reflecting occupants’ actual thermal
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sensation in a specific environment. TSV is influenced by three factors: physiology, psychology and
behavior adaptation [39]. In the same environment, different occupants may have different TSV. Even
for a same occupant, experiencing a same environment at different moments or with different
emotions may also lead to different TSV. Figure 11 shows the TSV changing against the indoor
operative temperature. Each data point is the mean value of TSV within a temperature interval of 0.5°
C. Linear fitting was applied to the TSV data for each of the three regions, the results of which are
shown on Table 6. By using the regression equations, neutral temperatures can be calculated. It is
found that Europeans hold the highest neutral temperature (23.2°C) and Chinese holds the lowest
neutral temperature (21.0°C), which means European and North American need higher temperature to
meet their thermal demand. The TSV ranging from -1 to 1 is regarded as acceptable thermal sensation.
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The regression results suggest that the acceptable temperature range of Chinese is the widest,
especially, the lower limit reaches 11.9°C. Meanwhile, the acceptable range of North America is the
narrowest, only 4.6°C.
The correlation coefficient for European equation provided in Table 6 show a weak relationship
(R2=0.5). By checking raw data from Europe, it can be found that when the temperature is lower than
18°C or higher than 28°C, the sample sizes are very small (less than 5 datasets in each temperature
interval of 0.5°C), which leads to some less representative results.

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2

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1
TSV

SC
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35
-1
Europe
-2
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AN
Asia (China)
-3
Indoor operative temperature/℃
℃
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Figure 11. Thermal sensation vote (TSV)

Table 6. Linear fitting and neutral temperature
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Neutral Accepted temperature

Linear fitting Correlation
Continent
formula coefficient (R2)
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temperature/°C range (-1~1)/°C

Europe y=0.1387x-3.2463 0.5076 23.4 16.2~30.6

North
y=0.4273x-9.6827 0.8381 22.7 20.3~25.0
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America
Asia (China) y=0.1024x-2.2228 0.7369 21.7 11.9~31.5
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3.6 Difference between TSV and PMV

PMV is an index proposed by Fanger [40] to predict human thermal sensation. Deriving from climate
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chamber experiments, the PMV index works well in stable and uniform environments. However,
thermal conditions in the real world are usually dynamic and non-uniform. Thus, occupants’ actual
thermal sensation acquired by questionnaire is often necessary for thermal comfort assessment. To
examine whether TSV and PMV show good agreement, Figures 12-14 present the comparison
between TSV and PMV for winter condition. The results show that deviations between TSV and PMV
exist for all the three regions, indicating that the PMV model fails to accurately predict actual thermal
sensation.
For Europeans, TSV and PMV match well from 20 to 25°C. When temperature goes lower or higher,
an obvious deviation appears. No matter in a warmer or cooler environment, PMV of European is
higher than TSV, which means Europeans tend to feel colder than predicted when temperature is
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outside the neutral zone. For North Americans and Chinese, they both show obvious “scissors
differences” between TSV and PMV, although their deviations are totally opposite. For North
Americans, the slope of PMV fit line is lower than that of TSV. But for Chinese, the PMV fit line has a
higher slope than TSV. It means when the environment is cold, Chinese people tend to feel warmer
than predicted while North Americans feel colder than predicted by PMV. In the other hand, when the
indoor temperature is higher than neutral, Chinese feel not as warm as PMV predicted while North
Americans feel even hotter than the prediction. It can be concluded that North Americans are more
sensitive to either cold or warm, and Chinese have a stronger tolerance for the non-neutral thermal

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environments.
3

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2

SC
1
TSV/PMV

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5 10 15 20 25 30 35
-1
AN
TSV
PMV
-2 Fit line (TSV)
Fit line (PMV)
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-3
Indoor operative temperature/℃
℃
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Figure 12. TSV and PMV for Europeans

3
TE

2
EP

1
TSV/PMV

0
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5 10 15 20 25 30 35
AC

-1
TSV
PMV
-2 Fit line (TSV)
Fit line (PMV)
-3
Indoor operative temperature/℃
℃

Figure 13. TSV and PMV for North Americans

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1
TSV/PMV

0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35

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-1
TSV
PMV
-2

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Fit line (TSV)
Fit line (PMV)
-3
Indoor operative temperature/℃
℃

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Figure 14. TSV and PMV for Chinese

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4. Discussions
4.1 Rates of meeting different standards
Figures 15-17 show the scatterplots of indoor temperature and humidity conditions in Europe, North
America and Asia (China) respectively. We aim to find out if those indoor thermal conditions meet
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well with the current standards in use. There are four standards considered in this section, which are
the ISO Standard (ISO 7730: 2005) [41], Europe standard (EN 15251: 2007) [42], ASHRAE Standard
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(ASHRAE 55-2013) [1] and China standard (GB 50736-2012) [43]. If there are multiple thermal
environment levels in a standard, we choose the middle level for comparison. The comfort zones
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representing different standards are described in different colors in Figures 14-16. The detailed
temperature and humidity requirement for each standard is listed in Table 7. We calculated the
percentage of data points which fall in the comfort zone as the rate of meeting a standard, so that the
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rates of meeting different standards for the three regions are presented in Table 8. North American
indoor conditions have the highest meeting rate with no matter which standard, while the European
and Chinese outside-comfort-zone points assemble differently on the psychrometric chart. The
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outside-comfort-zone data of Europeans are mainly overheating while those of Chinese are mainly
overcooling. Table 8 shows that indoor thermal conditions in Europe and China get the highest rates of
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meeting their own regional (EN 15251:2007) or national standard (GB 50736-2012). Thus, according
to those field data, the indoor thermal environments accord well with their local standards in all the
three regions. Besides, the acceptable percentages of three regions are calculated. The thermal
environment is considered acceptable when occupant’s thermal sensation vote ranges from -1 to 1. As
shown in Table 8, the difference of the winter thermal environment is obvious, while three regions’
acceptable percentages are also in the different level. It is notable that comparing with the other two
regions, Chinese indoor conditions have a relatively low rate of meeting comfort requirements in
standards, but the occupants’ acceptable percentage is the highest, which proves their wider tolerance.
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0.020
100%
ISO 7730 2005 80%
0.018
ASHRAE 55-2013 60%
Europe Standard 0.016
China Standard 0.014

Humidity ratio (kg/kg(DA))

Winter data
0.012
40%

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0.010
0.008

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20% 0.006
0.004

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0.002
0.000
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

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Operative temperature (℃)
Figure 15. Indoor temperature and humidity in European field data
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0.020
ISO 7730 2005 100%
80%
0.018
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ASHRAE 55-2013 60%

Europe Standard 0.016
China Standard
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0.014

Humidity ratio (kg/kg(DA))

Winter data
0.012
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40%
0.010
0.008
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20% 0.006
0.004
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0.002
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0.000
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0
Operative temperature (℃)
Figure 16. Indoor temperature and humidity in North American field data
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0.020
ISO 7730 2005 100%
80%
0.018
ASHRAE 55-2013 60%
Europe Standard 0.016
China Standard 0.014

Humidity ratio (kg/kg(DA))

Winter data
40% 0.012

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0.010
0.008

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20% 0.006
0.004

SC
0.002
0.000
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0

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Operative temperature (℃)
Figure 17. Indoor temperature and humidity in Asian (Chinese) field data
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Table 7. Comfort zones of different standards
Standards Comfort zones
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ISO 7730 2005 20<Top<24°C

Europe Standard (EN 15251:2007) Top>20°C, absolute humidity<12g/kg

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ASHRAE 55-2013 Top range shown in Figures 14-16, absolute humidity<12g/kg

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China Standard (GB 50736-2012) 18<Top<24°C, Rh<60%

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Table 8. Meeting rates of different standards and acceptable percentage (-1≤TSV≤1) for three
regions
Regions Standards Meeting rates (%) Acceptable percentage (%)
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ISO Standard 60.0

Europe Standard 91.6
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Europe 75.3
ASHRAE Standard 66.4
China Standard 61.8
ISO Standard 93.7
Europe Standard 99.2
North America 85.7
ASHRAE Standard 93.5
China Standard 94.5
ISO Standard 42.6
Europe Standard 49.6
Asia (China) 87.4
ASHRAE Standard 26.5
China Standard 67.0
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4.2 The probable causes for the differences

This study reveals some differences between three regions in temperate zone about their winter indoor
thermal environment by analyzing raw data from existing databases. The differences are notable, while
the causes might be rather complex and not easy to clearly explain at once. Some probable causes are
listed here for further discussion.
1. Behavior adaptation. In this study, clothing adjustment is one of the adaptive behaviors. Wearing
more clothes can be inferred as one of the reasons why Chinese have the highest acceptable

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percentage, although their indoor thermal environments do not have a high rate of meeting
standards comparing with the other two regions. Besides clothing adjustment, some personal
heating devices are also commonly used in China, such as electric blanket and hand-warmer,

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making Chinese feel warmer than predicted in a cold environment.
2. Long-term adaptation. Psychological and physiological adaptation are two significant ways of
thermal adaptation. Many studies have shown that there are physiological differences between

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different ethnics after a prolonged evolution and adaptation [44]-[46]. However, the relationship
between these physiological differences and thermal sensation is remained unclear, which we
would like to pay more attention to in the next step of research.

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5. Conclusions
This study aimed to make a comparison of the winter thermal environment in three different regions
located in temperate zone. Ten cities’ winter field study data from existing databases are included.
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Conclusions achieved in this study are:

1. The average temperature value of Europe is much higher than Asia (China). North America holds
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a narrower operative temperature range.

2. The indoor relative humidity of the North American and Chinese cities is lower than 40%. Except
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for Lyon, the indoor relative humidity of the four cities in Europe are higher than 40%. Generally,
indoor relative humidity accords with the corresponding climate type.
3. North America have the highest meeting rate of ASHRAE comfort zone. Most of
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outside-comfort-zone points of Europe are due to overheating, while the outside-comfort-zone

points of China are mainly caused by overcooling. Chinese indoor thermal conditions have a
relatively low rate of meeting comfort requirements in standards but the occupants’ acceptable
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percentage is the highest.

4. Clothing insulation of Chinese is the highest and has a wider range. European and North
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American share a similar clothing insulation level, which is lower than that of Chinese.
5. Fitting results of thermal sensation vote (TSV) against operative temperature show that
Europeans have the highest neutral temperature while Chinese have the lowest neutral
temperature in winter.
6. The deviations between TSV and PMV show different characteristics between the three regions.
Europeans tend to feel colder than predicted when temperature is higher or lower than neutral.
North Americans feel ‘worse’ than PMV predicted while Chinese feel ‘better’ than the prediction.
Although the above conclusions are obviously observed in this study, more studies for verification are
still needed in the future.

Acknowledgments
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This work presented in this paper was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(No. 51638003, No. 51278142 and No. 51521005). Thanks for the contribution and willingness of
researchers to share the data in ASHRAE RP-884, SCATs and Chinese field study databases.

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Highlights:
A comparison between South Europe, North America and Asia on winter thermal
environments, clothing insulations and thermal sensations was conducted, based
on several databases.
Chinese hold the lowest neutral temperature while the acceptable temperature
range of North American is the narrowest.
Europeans feel colder than predicted in non-neutral environment. Chinese TSVs
were closer to neutral than predicted by PMV while North American showed an

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opposite result.
Indoor thermal environments in the three regions were evaluated using four

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different standards.

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