Thermal preference

The research presented in this paper was conducted in order to test whether the thermal preferences of occupants in low energy houses are influenced by their environmental values. This was done through a thermal comfort study and Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI) of 40 low energy households located within two very different climates, cold temperate and hot humid, in Australia.

The thermoneutral zone (TNZ) reflects the range of ambient temperatures where no regulatory changes in metabolic heat production or evaporative heat loss occur. Indications exist that the ambient temperature range wherein a subject is feeling thermal comfortable, i.e. the thermal comfort zone (TCZ), is larger compared to the TNZ. From both the building energy-use and a health perspective this could be highly beneficial. The objective of this study is to explore the TNZ and TCZ of individual subjects, in relation to a given range of ambient temperatures.

This work examines the applicability of comfort criteria, based on a heat balance model and on anadaptive model, in naturally ventilated classrooms. The adaptive opportunity of students are limitedduring the lesson time, while they are free during the lesson breaks. The field study was conducted byphysical observations, survey questionnaires and behavioral observations. Both field measurementsand subjective surveys were performed at the same time during the regular lesson period.