INDICES OF THERMAL COMFORT
- thermal comfort refers to the
subjective feeling of temperature
in an environment
- optimum levels of thermal comfort
helps in maximizing productivity
- measurement of thermal comfort
levels are complex and many
indices have been proposed over
the years
BASIC CONCEPTS OF THERMAL
COMFORT
- design of buildings with climate
aims at maintaining comfort within
and outside building
- an analysis is usually carried out
the comfort limit
- comfort is subjective in nature
- the best comfort conditions are
called optimum thermal
conditions
- under such conditions only 50-
75% people feels comfortable
THERMAL BALANCE OF THE BODY
- energy is got by the body through
metabolism
There are two types of metabolism:
• Basal metabolism
• Muscular metabolism
Body Gains Heat Through :
• Conduction ( heat energy is
transmitted through collisions)
• Convection (transfer of heat from
air or water)
• Radition (infrared, direct to heat)
Body Loses Heat Through:
• Convection ( moving air removes
radiated heat)
• Evaporation (Loss of heat by
evaporation of water)
• Radiation (emission of
electromagnetic raditon)
• Conduction (direct transfer by
contract)
How we gain the heat should be the
same how we lose it to have thermal
balance
HEAT LOSS=HEAT GAIN
Control is maintained internally
through:
- Shivering
- Breathing
- Sweating
Other factors that may have an effect
on the sensation of comfort are age,
sex, acclimation, body shape, health
- Breating also causes heat loss
- Sweating and shivering start when
the body cannot control heat loss
by other means
- Heat production can be increased
by physical activity
Control is maintained externally
through:
- Clothing
- Activity rate
- Posture
- Choice of location
FACTORS AFFECTING THERMAL Globe thermometer
COMFORT
- Used to measure mean
ENVIRONMENTAL radiant temperature
PARAMETERS/FACTOR - Introduced by Vernon in
1930
- air temperature
- It calculates or assessing
- mean radiant temperature
the combined effects of
- air velocity
Radiation, Air temperature,
- humidity
Velocity on human comfort
PERSONAL
COMFORT IS ACHIEVED IF…
PARAMETERS/FACTORS
- Globe temperature is
- clothing level
between (16-28 deg C)
- physical activity
- Difference between dry and
FACTORS AFFECTING THERMAL mean radiant temperature is
COMFORT not less than 5 deg C

AIR TEMPERATURE AIR VELOCITY

can be easily influenced with - quantifies the speed and direction

passive and mechanical heating of the air movements in the room
and cooling - rapid air velocity fluctuations might
- Dry bulb temperature result in draught complications
- Low temperature makes -
people feel cold Helps on the body by:
- High temperature makes - Increasing heat loss
people feel hot during sweating
- Comfort can be achieved - Enhancing evaporation of
between 16-28 degree sweat; causing cooling
celcius - Of up to 0.1 meter per second may
lead to a feeling of stuffiness
MEAN RADIANT indoors
TEMPERATURE - Of 0.1 to 1.0 m/s are comfortable
allows defining the operative indoors (above this level there is
temperature which is the most discomfort)
essential component of thermal
comfort Kata Thermometer
- Its radiation to and from an o Used to measure air due to
enclosed surface low velocities
- Measured with globe
thermometer
- Outdoors, wind speeds up to 2.0 o 1.0 clo = normal business
m/s can help achieve comfort, suit, shirt and underwear
especially when the humidity is o 2.0 clo = outdoor winter
high clothing
- Wind speeds over 5.0 m/s can o The range of intrinsic
lead to considerable discomfort clothing for thermal
comfort is between 0.5 to
1.0 clo
HUMIDITY
- the moisture content of the air.
- Too high or too low humidity levels
may induce discomfort

When humidity is low:

o air is dry
o sweating is more effective
for body Cooling

When humidity is high:

o the air is damp and clammy
o sweating no longer cools
the body effectively
- Thermal comfort is achieved
between 20-90%
LEVELS OF ACTIVITY
CLOTHING LEVEL
- The activity represents the
- Amount of insulation added to the metabolic rate
human body - The higher the activity, the more
- Higher clothing levels will reduce heat is produced by the body
the heat lost through the skin and - The metabolic rate is measured in
lower the environment’s W/mz
temperature perceived as - The rate for a person sitting is
comfortable about 58 W/mz and this is taken
as the basic unit of activity known
Clothing is measured in clo as the “met”, as such:
units: o Sitting = 1 met
o 0.5 clo = a pair of shorts for o Sleeping = 0.7 met
men and a cotton dress for o Standing relaxed = 1.2 met
women o Dancing = 2.4 - 4.4 met
 o Heavy machine work = 3.5 Other Concepts Includes
- 4.5 met
o THE EQUATORIAL
- Comfort can be maintained with COMFORT INDEX (ECI)
metabolic rates from about 0.7 to 2.5 met (1929)
o THE STANDARD
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
EFFECTIVE
- Amount of heat produced by the TEMPERATURE (SET)
human body and therefore also in o THE OPERATIVE
the perception of hot and cold TEMPERATURE (OT)
environment
- A scale called thermal index or
comfort scale is used to combined,
measure, and asses the six factors
THE THERMAL INDICES
affecting thermal comfort
Need for a Thermal Index
o A need for a scale that will
combine the effects of all
factors discussed above
o Such as a scale called a
thermal index or a
comfort scale.
Arbuthnot established the first
milestone 1733
- pointed out the chilling
effects of wind by dispersing
the layer of warm, moist air
around the body
Was quickly flowed by several
developments as detailed by Markus
and Morris (1980)
o Proposal of the effective
THE STANDARD EFFECTIVE
Temperature Index (ET)
TEMPERATURE (SET)
(Houghton and Yaglou
1923) - Rational physiologically-
o Corrected Effective based index of comfort
Temperature Index (CET)
proposed (Bedford 1946)
- Expresses any To determine theSET the following
environment, clothing, and activity variables should be known:
level in terms of
- relative humidity
A uniform environment
- air temperature
standardized at:
- mean radiant temperature
o 50 percent RH,
o air velocity of 0.125 - air velocity
m/s,
- intrinsic clothing
o activity of 1 met and
intrinsic clothing at 0.6 - activity
clo

Note that
o 0.125 m/s is the
velocity of the still air
o 1 met is equivalent THE EFFECTIVE TEMPERATURE
to sedentary metabolic (ET)
rate at 58 W/m
o Zero external work - Temperature of a still,
o 0.6 clo is equivalent saturated atmosphere, which
to normal, lightweight, would, in the absence of
indoor clothing radiation, produce the same
effect as the atmosphere in
question
 - Developed by Houghton
and Yaglou in 1923
It combines the effects of the
following:
• The relative humidity
• Air velocity
• Air temperature
THE CORRECTED EFFECTIVE
TEMPERATURE
- This scale is an improvement on the
ET scale as it considers radiation
effects as a fourth determinant of
comfort
THE USE OF THE EFFECTIVE
TEMPERATURE NOMOGRAM
- The most widely used
thermal index is the Effective
Temperature Index (ET)
- The Effective Temperature
nomogramcan be used to
determine the Effective
Temperature given:
- The dry bulb or globe
- temperature
- The wet bulb temperature
- Air velocity
The Use Of The Effective
Temperature Nomogram
- Two points are joined by a
line
- The point of intersection of
this line and the line representing
the appropriate air velocity is
determines
- The EFFECTIVE
TEMPERATURE is then read
- After the effective
temperature has been determined
it is necessary to compare this
value with the comfort limits.
There is no agreement as to the
lower and upper comfort limits but
the values commonly used for
tropical countries are:
• Lower limit: 22 deg C
 • Optimum temperature: 25
deg C
• Upper limit: 27 deg C
THE RESULTANT TEMPERATURE
(RT)
- The RT is an improvement
on ET
- the nomograms defining
them are almost identical
- Developed in France by
Missernard and is considered
unreliable for tropical conditions a
- it does not sufficiently
incorporate the cooling effects if
air movement over:
o 35 deg C and
o 80% RH
THE HEAT STRESS INDEX (HSI)
- HSI which is reliable
between
o 27 and 35 deg C
o 30-80% RH
- heat production of subjects
doing various kinds of works as an
indication of heat stress
THE EQUIVALENT WARMTH (EW)
- Developed by Bedford in
England
- Is based on the reaction of
2000 factory workers
- Engaged in light works
- Under varying indoor
conditions
Takes into account
o Temperature
o RH
o Mean radiant
temperature
- EW is reliable within the
comfort zone up to 35 deg C with
low RH and up to 300 C with high
RH, it however underestimates
the cooling effect of air
movement at high humidity
- THE EQUATORIAL
COMFORT INDEX (ECI)
- - Similar to ET, was
developed by Webb in Singapore
and it accommodates the effects
of temperature, humidity and air
movement
- THE PREDICTED FOUR
HOUR SWEAT RATE (P4SR)
- This is developed to
consider the special heat
stresses experienced by
seamen, which is indicated by
the rateof sweat secretion from
the body, the pulse and the
internal temperature
- Considered unsuitable for
temperatures below 280 deg C
and it underestimates the cooling
effects of air movement at high
humidities
 THE OPERATIVE
TEMPERATURE (OT)
- Defined as the uniform
temperature of an imaginary
enclosure in which man will
exchange the same dry heat by
radiation and convection as in the
actual environment, the OT
combines the effects of radiation
and air temperature
USE OF BIOCLIMATIC CHART
For simple analysis
- The average monthly air
temperaturemay be used
- Relative humidities may be
used
The use of the minima and
maxima of these climatic
variables is however more
informative, and this is the
procedure described here.
- The monthly minima and - Take the monthly mean
maxima of air temperature and o Min temperature
relative humidity are usually o Max relative
readily available data and are humidity for
sufficient for this analysis of.
- It is advisable to obtain the (These two variables
o Average monthly define a point on the Bioclimatic
wind velocity Chart.)
o Mean monthly solar - Take the monthly mean
radiation maximum temperature and the
- monthly mean minimum relative
humidity for the same month of
January and use this to define a
second point.
- Join these two points
together with a straight line.
 - Use the wind velocity and
the solar radiation for the same
month to determine whether
there:
o hot discomfort,
o cold discomfort
o comfort for the two
points.
- You may indicate the
thermal stress thus ascertained
symbolically.
- Repeat the process for the
remaining months
THE MAHONEY SCALE
- Carl Mahoney proposed a
scale which is capable of
determining:
o Hot discomfort for THE EVANS SCALE
ech month of the year
o cold discomfort for - The comfort limits for
ech month of the year climatic design proposed by
Martin Evans are very similar
- capable of doing on the to the ones proposed by Carl
basis of only: Mahoney.
o relative humidity - The limits are
data o Hot comfortable
o temperature data. o Cold climates

- The scale differentiates

between day and night comfort
limits
o lower limits for the
night since people
generally tolerate lower
temperatures in the
night.
- recognizes that there are
various combinations of climatic
variables which produce
conditions under which natural
means are not sufficient for the
attainment of comfort and
mechanical aids are needed
- For student projects the
following should commonly used
o Bioclimatic Chart,
o the Effective Temperature,
o the Standard Effective
Temperature,
o the Mahoney Scale
o the Evans Scale are
commonly used.
- It should be noted that
there may be slight variations in
the comfort limits proposed by
these indices and those actually
applicable in the Nigerian
climate.
- For extensive analyses the
use of a computer program such
as COLDHOT is advisable.

APPLICABILITY OF THE
INDICES
- The choice of a thermal
index for climatic analysis is
closely related to:
o the purpose of the analysis,
o the availability of data and
o the simplicity of the
particular thermal index
- Also of importance is the
range of application of the
particular index
- Nomograms, where
necessary, should of course be
available.