See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/343153355

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model

Conference Paper · November 2012

CITATIONS READS

0 1,657

1 author:

Seyed Morteza Moossavi

Allameh Jafari University
31 PUBLICATIONS 5 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Seyed Morteza Moossavi on 23 July 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 October 30 -
International Conference and Exhibition on Green Buildings and Built Environment 10th Edition November 1,
2012

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model. International Conference on Green. Green Building

Congress 2012 , International Conference and Exhibition on Green Buildings and Built
Environment 10th Edition. 30th October – 1th November 2012. Indian Green Building Council.
Hyderabad, India.

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model

Seyed Morteza Moossavi
(Ph.D. Scholar of Architecture, M.D. Arch.)
Architecture and Ekistics Department
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
_________________________________________
Keywords: Architecture, Green Architecture, human thermal comfort, adaptive thermal comfort,
adaptive comfort model

Abstract
Thermal comfort is one of the most important parameters in architectural design,
especially green or sustainable architecture. Thermal comfort depends on far more
than just air temperature—it also includes the environmental factors of mean radiant
temperature (the average temperature of the surfaces surrounding an object or
individual), relative humidity, and air velocity. And it depends on highly variable
personal factors such as the amount of clothing being worn, a person’s resting
metabolic rate, and the level of physical activity.
Such methods have been used to inform standards such as BFI/CEN/ISO standard
7730 and ASHRAE/ANSI Standard 55/1994. This is known as the heat exchange
method. Nicol and Humphreys (2002) have developed an standard and then de Dear
and Brager (2002) have developed an adaptive standard based on a study on 160
buildings in the world.So their developed thermal comfort standard shows between
80% to 90% acceptable zone for occupants in these buildings and this is a very high
rate standard as adaptive thermal comfort.
In this article an adaptive thermal comfort model based on these developed studies
and models is presented.

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model 1

 October 30 -
International Conference and Exhibition on Green Buildings and Built Environment 10th Edition November 1,
2012

Introduction
Green or Sustainable architecture presents a method for architectural design to
achieve energy conservation and healthy space for human. Human thermal comfort
is in this way.
One of the most important parameters Thermal comfort is hard to define and even
harder to achieve. The most common complaint about workplace environments is
that they are too cold. This would be a fairly simple problem to fix if the second most
common complaint weren’t that the same spaces are too hot.
As concerns around energy efficiency and indoor air quality have led to more interest
in ventilating buildings naturally, the concept of adaptive thermal comfort has
emerged. The theory suggests that a connection to the outdoors and control over
their immediate environment allows humans to adapt to—and even prefer—a wider
range of thermal conditions than is generally considered comfortable.
Adaptive thermal comfort broadens our understanding of the human comfort zone by
taking into account the ways that people’s perceptions of their environment change
based on seasonal expectations of temperature and humidity as well as their
capacity to control the conditions in a space.

Methods
Adaptive models do not actually predict comfort responses but rather the almost
constant conditions under which people are likely to be comfortable in buildings. In
general, people naturally adapt and may also make various adjustments to
themselves and their surroundings to reduce discomfort and physiological strain. It
has been observed that, through adaptive actions, an acceptable degree of comfort
in residences and offices is possible over a range of air temperatures from about 17
to 31°C.1
Also several field surveys in dwellings, offices etc. conducted over the latest decades
have shown that the calculated thermal sensation of indices such as PMV2 and ET3
differs from the actual thermal sensation of interviewed people. The reason is linked

1 Humphreys and Nicol, 1998.

2 Predicted Mean Vote
3 Effective Temperature

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model 2

 October 30 -
International Conference and Exhibition on Green Buildings and Built Environment 10th Edition November 1,
2012

to the fact that the existing comfort standards are ignoring important aspects such
as:
- Cultural aspects
- Climatic aspects
- Social aspects
- Thermal adaptation
Adaptive adjustments are typically conscious actions such as altering clothing,
posture, activity schedules or levels, rate of working, diet, ventilation, air movement,
and local temperature. They may also include unconscious longer-term changes to
physiological set points and gains for control of shivering, skin blood flow, and
sweating, as well as adjustments to body fluid levels and salt loss. However, only
limited documentation and information on such changes is available.

What conditions are most likely to provide thermal comfort in buildings? Two
methods have been suggested which might be used to define comfortable indoor
conditions:

1. Approaching people in their everyday context at home or at work,

simultaneously evaluating their thermal sensation and measuring their thermal
environment, and using statistical techniques to deduce the relationship
between the two define what will constitute comfortable conditions. This
method is known as the field study method.
2. An alternative is to use the physics of heat exchange between the human
body and the environment together with thermal physiology to predict people's
response to the environment. Such methods have been used to inform
standards such as BFI/CEN/ISO standard 7730 and ASHRAE/ANSI Standard
55/1994. This is known as the heat exchange method.

The heat exchange method can be particularly useful in defining the influence of
various elements of the heat-exchange which ultimately governs our thermal
relationship with the environment.

The most recent (2004) version of ASHRAE Standard 55 recognizes the role of
adaptive factors in establishing thermal comfort, but using these factors to design

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model 3

 October 30 -
International Conference and Exhibition on Green Buildings and Built Environment 10th Edition November 1,
2012

buildings remains a challenge. The standard allows a wider range of temperatures in

naturally ventilated buildings, which are necessarily more susceptible to outdoor
conditions. Unfortunately, it does not yet account for adaptability when buildings are
in mechanical heating mode or in any building with mechanical cooling—which
includes most buildings in climates with pronounced seasonal swings. With its
broadened definition of thermal comfort, however, Standard 55–2004 gives greater
legitimacy to naturally ventilated buildings and paves the way for significant energy
savings.
In this way, Nicol and Humphreys (2002) have developed an standard and then de
Dear and Brager (2002) have developed an adaptive standard based on a study on
160 buildings in the world.

Analysis
Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the neutral temperature as a function of the monthly
mean outdoor temperature for active (heated and/or cooled) and passive (free-
running) buildings. The perceived thermal sensation in the active buildings does not
seem to depend on the outdoor temperature. The neutral temperature in passive
buildings is however closely related to the outdoor temperature.

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model 4

 October 30 -
International Conference and Exhibition on Green Buildings and Built Environment 10th Edition November 1,
2012

Figure 1 Observed and predicted indoor comfort temperatures from RP-884 database, for
HVAC buildings4

Figure 2 Observed and predicted indoor comfort temperatures from RP-884 database, for
naturally ventilated buildings5
Nicol & Humphreys (2002) found the equation of this relationship to be:
𝑇𝑐 = 13.5 + 0.54 𝑇𝑜
Equation 16
where
Tc = the neutral (comfort) temperature (°C)
To = the outdoor temperature (°C)
Several studies of the same kind have been conducted in various countries. Figure 3
shows results from studies in Pakistan (two studies) and Tunisia. It can be seen that
the slope of the line varies from study to study. This is because cultural and
behavioral aspects vary from place to place.

4 Brager and de Dear, 2001.

5 Same Resource
6 Nicol & Humphreys, 2002.

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model 5

 October 30 -
International Conference and Exhibition on Green Buildings and Built Environment 10th Edition November 1,
2012

Figure 3 Neutral temperature vs. outdoor temperature for two sites in Pakistan and one in
Tunisia.7, 8
Based on studies from 160 buildings located in North America, Europe, Central Asia,
South-east Asia and Australia, ASHRAE has developed an adaptive standard.9 The
study resulted in the following relationship between the neutral and the outdoor
temperature:
𝑇𝑛 = 17.8 + 0.31 𝑇𝑜
Equation 210
where
Tn = the neutral (comfort) temperature (°C)
To = the outdoor temperature (°C)
The comfort zone is defined as a range above and below this line (equation 2), see
Figure 4. In this figure the comfort zones of 80% and 90% satisfied are shown.

7 Nicol and Roaf, 1996.

8 Bouden and Ghrab, 2005.
9 de Dear and Brager, 2002.

10 Same Resource

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model 6

 October 30 -
International Conference and Exhibition on Green Buildings and Built Environment 10th Edition November 1,
2012

Figure 4 Adaptive Thermal Comfort Standard According to ASHRAE Showing the Comfort
Zones for 80% and 90%.11,12

Conclusion
Human thermal comfort based on adaptive model of ASHRAE and developed
studies and standard of de Dear and Brager (2002) can be summarized as the
following table.
Table 1 Adaptive Thermal Comfort Standard Acceptable for 90%
Mean
Outdoor Air 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Temperature
Minimum
Indoor
Operative 18.5 19.1 19.7 20.3 20.9 21.5 22.1 22.7 23.3 23.9 24.5 25.1 25.7 26.3 26.9 27.5
Temperature
90% Accept.
Maximum
Indoor
Operative 22.5 23.1 23.7 24.3 24.9 25.5 26.1 26.7 27.3 27.9 28.5 29.1 29.7 30.3 30.9 31.5
Temperature
90% Accept.

11 de Dear and Brager, 2002

12 ASHRAE, 2009

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model 7

 October 30 -
International Conference and Exhibition on Green Buildings and Built Environment 10th Edition November 1,
2012

This standard is acceptable for 90% of occupants in a tolerance of thermal comfort

according to Cultural aspects, Climatic aspects, Social aspects, Thermal adaptation
or in a word; operative conditions.

References

- ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, R. and A.-C. E. (2009). Access to

Additional Content for ASHRAE 2009 Fundamentals Handbook ( SI Units )
(SI., p. 995). Atlanta, GA, USA: ASHRAE.
- Bouden, C., & Ghrab, N. (2005). An adaptive thermal comfort model for the
Tunisian context: a field study results. Energy and Buildings, 37, 952–963.
- Brager, G. S., & De Dear, R. (2001). Center for the Built Environment Climate
, Comfort , & Natural Ventilation : A new adaptive comfort standard for (p. 18).
Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved from
http://repositories.cdlib.org/cedr/cbe/ieq/Brager2001
- De Dear, R. J., & Brager, G. S. (2002). Thermal comfort in naturally ventilated
buildings: revisions to ASHRAE Standard 55. Energy and Buildings, 34(6),
549–561. doi:10.1016/S0378-7788(02)00005-1
- Humphreys, M. A., & Nicol, J. F. (1998). Understanding the adaptive
approach to thermal comfort. ASHRAE Transactions, 104(1), 991–1004.
- Nicol, F., & Roaf, S. (1996). Pioneering new indoor temperature standards:
the Pakistan project. Energy and Buildings, 23, 169–174.
- Nicol, J. F., & Humphreys, M. A. (2002). Adaptive thermal comfort and
sustainable thermal standards for buildings. Energy and Buildings, 34(6),
563–572.

Adaptive Thermal Comfort Model 8

View publication stats