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Featured Application: This paper proposes a new evaluation method for rural residence thermal insulation performance based on indoor thermal comfort (PMV) index, which provides a new optimization idea for the retrofitting of existing buildings. In the field investigation of rural dwellings, it was found that thermal feelings are significantly different with varied envelopes even under the same indoor air temperature, and this paper explores the phenomenon in simulation. Based on building thermal investigations in several villages of North China, a typical energy and environment simulation model for rural residences was developed using DeST, and the hourly parameters of temperature and humidity were used to calculate the adaptive thermal comfort (APMV) of the rooms. The results show that the main reason for the different thermal comfort at the same air temperature is the large difference in the inner surface temperature. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the envelope structure, the relationship between it and the APMV value is obtained. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the enclosure structure and getting the correlation between it and the APMV value, it is obtained that when the heat transfer coefficient of the enclosure structure meets 0.5 W/(m2·K), the indoors can be in thermal comfort. This paper considers that the indoor air temperature cannot represent the APMV to evaluate the indoor thermal comfort, and the APMV value should be used to evaluate the thermal comfort of the renovated building and calculate the corresponding energy saving rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecuador is a country with several climate zones. However, their behaviour is similar throughout the year, with no peaks of extreme temperatures in the various seasons. This paper is a first approach to study the adaptive comfort behaviour in several areas and populations of the country. Considering the ASHRAE 55-2020 model, energy simulation programmes are applied not just to the current climate scenario but also to the climate change scenarios of 2050 and 2100. The results of locations are analysed and compared to determine their performance. Thanks to their climate characteristics, adaptive comfort models could be applied as a passive strategy, using natural ventilation for building indoor comfort improvement, particularly social dwellings. According to previous studies, some prototypes have not considered the climate determinants in each region. Given the geographic situation of the study areas, the adaptive comfort model could be applied in all cases. Percentages of application of natural ventilation and heating and cooling degree hours have similar behaviours according to the climatic region, with a variation greater than 30% among them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal comfort has an important role in human life, considering that people spend most of their lives in indoor environments. However, the necessity of ensuring the thermal comfort of these people presents an important problem, calculating the thermal comfort accurately. The assessment of thermal comfort has always been problematic, from past to present, and the studies conducted in this field have indicated that there is a gap between thermal comfort and thermal sensation. Although recent studies have shown an effort to take human psychology into account more extensively, these studies just focused on the physiological responses of the human body under psychological disturbances. On the other hand, the mood state of people is one of the most significant parameters of human psychology. Thus, this paper investigated the effect of occupants' mood states on thermal sensation; furthermore, it introduced a novel "Mood State Correction Factor" (MSCF) to the existing thermal comfort model. To this aim, experiments were conducted at a mixed-mode building in a university between 15 August 2021 and 15 August 2022. Actual Mean Vote (AMV) and Profile of Mood States (POMS) were used to examine the effect of mood state on thermal sensation. The outcomes of this study showed that in the mood states of very pessimistic and very optimistic, the occupants felt warmer than the calculated one and the MSCFs are calculated as −0.125 and −0.114 for the very pessimistic and very optimistic mood states, respectively. It is worth our time to note that the experiments in this study were conducted during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic and the results of this study could differ in different cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing need for accurate and interpretable machine learning models of thermal comfort in buildings. Physics-informed machine learning could address this need by adding physical consistency to such models. This paper presents metamodeling of thermal comfort in non-air-conditioned buildings using physics-informed machine learning. The studied metamodel incorporated knowledge of both quasi-steady-state heat transfer and dynamic simulation results. Adaptive thermal comfort in an office located in cold and hot European climates was studied with the number of overheating hours as index. A one-at-a-time method was used to gain knowledge from dynamic simulation with TRNSYS software. This knowledge was used to filter the training data and to choose probability distributions for metamodel forms alternative to polynomial. The response of the dynamic model was positively skewed; and thus, the symmetric logistic and hyperbolic secant distributions were inappropriate and outperformed by positively skewed distributions. Incorporating physical knowledge into the metamodel was much more effective than doubling the size of the training sample. The highly flexible Kumaraswamy distribution provided the best performance with R2 equal to 0.9994 for the cold climate and 0.9975 for the hot climate. Physics-informed machine learning could combine the strength of both physics and machine learning models, and could therefore support building design with flexible, accurate and interpretable metamodels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mandya district of Karnataka, India, houses a unique Jain settlement constructed about 1000 years ago. Recent excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) indicate a high degree of engineering skills among the builders of this settlement. Adapting to heat-stresses in a region where the Monsoons often failed was and is still a matter of concern. Ingenious methods were adopted to modulate bioclimatic responses to maintain thermal comfort indices. The Aretippurians used composite building fabrics which modulated heat transfer to the interiors. Indeed, the thermal transmittances for these composite fabrics were low to moderate for both the temple complexes as well as the dormitories; these were 0.27 Wm−1K−1 and 0.23 Wm−1K−1, respectively. A site visit revealed that a unique and engineered micro-climate was also made to prevail on this hilltop settlement housing several hundred Jain settlers. A granite skirted reservoir was indeed the pièce-de-résistance promoting hydraulic air-conditioning for eight months of the year around the premises with copious winds blowing over a large and exposed rain-fed reservoir. This fanned chilled air across the open plan temples, courtyards, and lived-in areas. This paper explores bioclimatic responses for around 120 residents to the prevailing indoor settings modulated by an engineered microclimate. This was possible because of the staggered layout, unique building forms, use of mixed building fabric, and carefully chosen glazing ratios which yielded salubrious settings. Clearly, this entailed a complex interplay between the intercepted solar insolation, structure-driven turbulence, and the transfer of heat across the original composite walls within and around the complex, requiring a systematic experimental as well as modelling study. The experimental part of the project involved the calculation of the thermal transmittivity across the walls made up of fired bricks, granite, and limestone, and the theoretical part involved the use of appropriate software to reconstruct air flow and heat distribution across floors, walls, and ceilings to proxy the original flow pattern yielding the comfortable PMV (predicted mean vote) and PET (physiological equivalent temperature) values within these premises. This exercise may well lead to further explorations on indoor comfort adaptations in tropical settings with the use of many edifying vernacular idioms in ancient settlements which prevail even in modern layouts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a novel 10-point numerical scale to evaluate long-term thermal comfort satisfaction. The available scale that verbally evaluates the short-term thermal comfort is thermal sensation vote (TSV) and this has substituted for the long-term thermal comfort assessment. However, the TSV has been questioned by many studies due to the ambiguous, widely different interpretation of each score and unequal perceived gaps between the scores. The paper argues the biological similarities between pain and temperature perceptions and proposes a numerical thermal comfort scale like that of long-term pain perception. Participants in a survey rated their long-term summer thermal comfort in the natural ventilation mode through the numerical and TSV scales. Ratings were compared after converting to degree hours based on monitoring temperature data for the same summer. The results show that the numerical scale provides an opportunity for respondents to express their long-term thermal comfort satisfaction level. Scoring by the numerical scale was convenient and clear to the respondents. The verbal scores of TSV, had different interpretations for individuals as each point was attributed to more than two values of degree hours. The score 'Neutral' was significantly ambiguous for assessing thermal comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to adduce the most appropriate thermal comfort assessment method for determining human thermal comfort and energy efficient temperature control in office buildings in tropical West Africa. Design/methodology/approach -- This paper examines the Adaptive Thermal Comfort Standard, from its research evolution to its contemporary use as an environmental design assessment Standard. It compares the adaptive component of ASHRAE Standard 55 and the European CEN/EN 15251. It begins by reviewing relevant literature and then produces a comparative analysis of the two standards, before suggesting the most appropriate Adaptive Thermal Comfort Standard for use in assessing conditions in tropical climate conditions. The suggested Standard was then used to analyse data collected from the author's pilot research into thermal conditions, in five office buildings situated in the city of Enugu, South Eastern Nigeria. Findings -- The paper provides insight as to why the ASHRAE adaptive model is more suitable for thermal comfort assessment of office buildings in the tropical West African climate. This was demonstrated by using the ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Standard to assess comfort conditions from pilot research study data collected on Nigerian office buildings by the author. Originality/value -- The paper compares the adaptive component of ASHRAE Standard 55 with CEN/EN 15251, and their different benefits for use in tropical climates. It suggested the need for further research studies and application of the ASHRAE Adaptive Thermal Comfort Standard in the tropical West African climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The proposed thermal comfort-based personalized models can be applied into personalized heating and cooling system in open-plan office buildings. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems play a key role in shaping the built environment. However, centralized HVAC systems cannot guarantee the provision of a comfortable thermal environment for everyone. Therefore, a personalized HVAC system that aims to adapt thermal preferences has drawn much more attention. Meanwhile, occupant-related factors like skin temperature have not had standardized measurement methods. Therefore, this paper proposes to use infrared thermography to develop individual thermal models to predict thermal sensations using three different feature sets with the random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM). The results have shown the correlation coefficients between clothing surface temperature and thermal sensation are 11% and 3% higher than those between skin temperature and thermal sensation of two subjects, respectively. With cross-validation, SVM with a linear kernel and penalty number of 1, as well as RF with 50 trees and the maximum tree depth of 3 were selected as the model configurations. As a result, the model trained with the feature set, consisting of indoor air temperature, relative humidity, skin temperature and clothing surface temperature, and with linear kernel SVM has achieved 100% recall score on test data of female subjects and 95% recall score on that of male subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous field studies conducted in different locations have found that peoples' thermal comfort varies with local climate. However, little is understood about the effect of moving from one climate to another. Literature suggests that people would be able to adapt to the typical indoor climate in a new location, though estimated timescales for this process differ. This paper uses data from a 6-month field study to investigate the process of thermal adaptation to a new climate. The field study consisted of a series of four thermal comfort surveys conducted with 48 occupants of single occupancy residential accommodation units, which helped to estimate their preferred temperatures. The surveys were carried out between October 2015 and April 2016 in Southampton, UK, with high resolution indoor air temperature data collected for the periods between the surveys. Study participants were grouped into three categories: long term residents of the UK (Category A), recently moved to the UK from cold climates (Category An) and recently moved to the UK from warm climates (Category B). The higher indoor temperatures of participants from cool climates (Category An) indicates the influence of indoor thermal history in determining thermal comfort conditions in a new location. This is highlighted by the fact that 94% of Category An participants reported having heating in their previous residence compared to 17% of Category B participants. Analysis of comfort temperatures over the first 6 months of occupancy shows no indication that occupants from Category An or B are adapting their indoor preferences to match that of long term UK residents, given the choice to create their preferred environment. Finally, comparison of indoor air temperature and comfort temperature found a higher correlation in Category A participants which supports the key principles of adaptive comfort theory. Category An demonstrated fairly close correlation though air temperatures were higher than comfort temperatures which may be due to embedded heater use behaviour patterns. Category B demonstrated no correlation between comfort temperature and air temperature which may be due to unfamiliarity to indoor heating systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since indoor clothing insulation is a key element in thermal comfort models, the aim of the present study is proposing an approach for predicting it, which could assist the occupants of a building in terms of recommendations regarding their ensemble. For that, a systematic analysis of input variables is exposed, and 13 regression and 12 classification machine learning algorithms were developed and compared. The results are based on data from 3352 questionnaires and 21 input variables from a field study in mixed-mode office buildings in Spain. Outdoor temperature at 6 a.m., indoor air temperature, indoor relative humidity, comfort temperature and gender were the most relevant features for predicting clothing insulation. When comparing machine learning algorithms, decision tree-based algorithms with Boosting techniques achieved the best performance. The proposed model provides an efficient method for forecasting the clothing insulation level and its application would entail optimising thermal comfort and energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The physiological equivalent temperature (PET) and the universal thermal climate index (UTCI) are considered adaptive thermal comfort evaluation indices applicable to transition space. • The strong wind is prone to occur in winter on Huajiang campus. It is important to take precautions against the discomfort caused by a strong wind. • The outdoor thermal comfort condition of Huajiang campus in summer is better than it in winter. • Adjusting the coverage of lawn, marble floor, water surface and landscape trees can effectively regulate the microclimate of the library's inner courtyard space. The inner courtyard is an important transition space for mass exchange and heat transfer between the internal space of courtyard buildings and the external environment. A good layout of courtyard space is conducive to building energy efficiency and human thermal comfort. In the paper, we analyze the impacts of different design schemes of the spatial layout on the microclimate of inner courtyard space using field measurements and numerical simulation methods. The analysis of the measured data presents the main meteorological factors affecting the thermal comfort of the courtyard. The magnitude of the effects is ranked as air temperature, total solar radiation intensity, near-surface air flow rate, and relative humidity. Results of the ENVI-met simulation show that changing the cover of different underlying surface types leads to different microclimate regulation effects in the sense that the temperature and relative humidity in summer drops up to 3.53 °C and 15.59%, respectively and in winter increase up to 3.97 °C and 37.21%, respectively. This paper proposes that lawn ground, marble ground, water surface and landscape tree coverage of 25%, 25%, 50% and 75%, respectively, are suitable design schemes for the inner courtyard space of library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of low energy buildings requires accurate thermal simulation software to assess the heating and cooling loads. Such designs should sustain thermal comfort for occupants and promote less energy usage over the life time of any building. One of the house energy rating used in Australia is AccuRate, star rating tool to assess and compare the thermal performance of various buildings where the heating and cooling loads are calculated based on fixed operational temperatures between 20 °C to 25 °C to sustain thermal comfort for the occupants. However, these fixed settings for the time and temperatures considerably increase the heating and cooling loads. On the other hand the adaptive thermal model applies a broader range of weather conditions, interacts with the occupants and promotes low energy solutions to maintain thermal comfort. This can be achieved by natural ventilation (opening window/doors), suitable clothes, shading and low energy heating/cooling solutions for the occupied spaces (rooms). These activities will save significant amount of operating energy what can to be taken into account to predict energy consumption for a building. Most of the buildings thermal assessment tools depend on energy-based approaches to predict the thermal performance of any building e.g. AccuRate in Australia. This approach encourages the use of energy to maintain thermal comfort. This paper describes the advantages of a temperature-based approach to assess the building's thermal performance (using an adaptive thermal comfort model) over energy based approach (AccuRate Software used in Australia). The temperature-based approach was validated and compared with the energy-based approach using four full scale housing test modules located in Newcastle, Australia (Cavity Brick (CB), Insulated Cavity Brick (InsCB), Insulated Brick Veneer (InsBV) and Insulated Reverse Brick Veneer (InsRBV)) subjected to a range of seasonal conditions in a moderate climate. The time required for heating and/or cooling using the adaptive thermal comfort approach and AccuRate predictions were estimated. Significant savings (of about 50 %) in energy consumption in minimising the time required for heating and cooling were achieved by using the adaptive thermal comfort model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal comfort study was carried out in the hostels of National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, which is located in a warm humid climatic zone of India. Measurements of ambient temperature, globe temperature, relative humidity, air velocity and illuminance were carried out in eight hostels, and in parallel a paper-based survey was conducted among students to know about their Thermal Preference Vote (TPV) and Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) based on an ASHRAE seven-point scale. Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied (PPD) have been evaluated based on Fanger's theory of thermal comfort by utilizing the field measurements. Preferred operative temperature and neutral effective temperature were obtained based on the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV). Similarly the preferred operative temperature and neutral effective temperature were identified, for both Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) and Thermal Preference Vote (TPV). Thermal comfort conditions for 80% satisfaction were also determined in each case. Correlations between the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and the Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) as well as between the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and the Thermal Preference Vote (TPV) were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central problem addressed by this paper is the fuel poverty experienced in Chile as a result of poor thermal performance of dwellings, a problem commonly encountered throughout the country, even in new housing. The domestic consumption of fuels used for thermal regulation of dwellings accounts for a large proportion of national energy use, gas emissions, and household expenditures. This study aims to alleviate these issues by presenting building designs that can provide comfortable indoor thermal conditions without a need for conventional energy fuels. Following the findings of field studies, the design of standard dwellings has been optimized using computational studies that were conducted with consideration for the country's main climatic regions. The results of this study have shown that the application of passive design measures can be sufficient for achieving thermal comfort conditions, thereby reducing the use of domestic fuels to near-zero levels in most of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been found in recent years that using setpoint temperatures based on adaptive thermal comfort models is a successful method of energy conservation. Recent studies using adaptive setpoint temperatures incorporate international models from ASHRAE Standard 55 and EN16798-1. This study, however, has instead considered a regional Brazilian adaptive comfort model. This study investigates the energy demand arising from the use of a local Brazilian comfort model in order to assess the energy implications from the use of the worldwide ASHRAE Standard 55 adaptive model and various fixed setpoint temperatures. All of Brazil's climate zones, full air-conditioning, mixed-mode building operating modes, present-day climate change scenarios, and future scenarios—specifically Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) 2.6, 4.5, and 8.5 for the years 2050 and 2100—have all been taken into account in building energy simulations. The use of adaptive setpoint temperatures based on the Brazilian local model considering mixed-mode has been found to significantly reduce energy consumption when compared to static setpoint temperatures (average energy-saving values ranging from 52% to 58%) and the ASHRAE 55 adaptive model (average values ranging from 15% to 21%). Considering climate change and the mixed-mode Brazilian model, the overall energy demand for the three groups of climatic zones (annual average outdoor temperatures ≤ 21 °C, > 21 and ≤ 25 °C and > 25 °C) ranged between 2% decrease and 5% increase, 4% and 27% increase, and 13% and 45% increase, respectively. It is concluded as a consequence that setting setpoint temperatures based on the Brazilian local adaptive comfort model is a very efficient energy-saving method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building simulation is a powerful way to evaluate the performance of a building. The quality of simulation results however strongly depends on the accuracy of simulation input data. Especially for weather data files and occupant behaviour it is difficult to obtain accurate data. This paper evaluates the variability of building simulation results with regards to different weather data sets as well as different heating and cooling set points for a residential building in Victoria, Australia. Thermal comfort according to ASHRAE Standard 55, final energy consumption and peak cooling and heating loads are assessed. Simulations have been performed with Energy-Plus, and weather data for a multi-year approach have been generated with the software Meteonorm. The results show that different weather files for the same location as well as different conditioning set points can influence the results by approximately a factor of 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many post-occupancy comfort studies of energy renovated residential buildings have documented elevated temperatures above comfort levels, not only during the summer period but also during the shoulder months. The main focus in renovation projects is on heat savings while the risk of overheating is not considered. This paper analyze in which situations overheating and cooling need to be addressed in building energy renovation projects and which renovation measures are causing this need. The analysis contains four reference single family houses from central and northern Europe. Both dynamic and static methods were used to assess the overheating risk. In terms of overheating occurrences, the most critical renovation measures are the insulation of the floor and the increase of the airtightness. The contribution of decreasing the g value of the window glazing is positive. The way to energy efficiency improvements also results in an extension of the overheating period and higher average and maximum building temperatures. The increase of the ventilation rates and the use of shading systems are useful measures for preventing overheating increase. The paper will highlight the inconsistencies which arise from the use of different criteria and also propose suggestions for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the authors first clarify the definition of building microclimate in free-running buildings and the relationship with summer thermal comfort. Next, field measurements were conducted to investigate the microclimate in a Chinese traditional vernacular house. Subsequently, the results of measurements were compared with a dynamic thermal and a CFD simulation in order to determine the building microclimate and thermal comfort of the present vernacular house over the period of an entire summer. The field measurements show the present Chinese vernacular house has its own independent building microclimate in summer, which is in accordance with the main character of microclimate in terms of different distributions of solar gain, air temperature and wind velocity in different spaces. The simulation results of the vernacular house could be matched well with the field measurements. According to the simulations, at night, a comfortable temperature could be obtained throughout most of the summer period whereas in the daytime the operative temperature was higher than the comfortable temperature for one-third of the summer period. Wind velocity in the semi-outdoor and outdoor spaces however, improves the thermal comfort significantly. The thermal comfort environment can thus not only change in time but also in space. This example of the vernacular building shows that it is possible to create comfortable conditions for the inhabitants when not only the indoor climate is taken into account but the whole building microclimate as defined in this paper. This paper also shows that the simulations can predict the building microclimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residential Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system use around 3/5 of the total energy consumption. Connected thermostats optimize the HVAC operation; however, householders have personality traits that lead into behavioral and usability problems toward the thermostat's interface usage. Thus, a serious game applied in the thermostat interface can balance entertainment and education. Therefore, thermostat interfaces must address strategies that reduce energy without losing thermal comfort. This paper proposed an interactive interface type and a predicted interface type based on an HVAC strategy and a Natural Ventilation strategy. These strategies measured the impact of adaptive thermal comfort, energy consumption, and costs. Hence, twelve energy models located in California (Concord, Riverside, Los Angeles, and San Diego) were simulated using EnergyPlus™ through LadybugTools. The first interactive interface included Serious Game elements, so the householder interacted with the date, location, and setpoint. The second interface predicted the energy consumption and thermal comfort during winter and summer in Concord by a two-layer feed-forward Artificial Neural Network structure. The proposed structure decreases the energy consumption by at least 62% without losing thermal comfort.

This paper evaluates the use of advanced natural ventilation (ANV) strategies in a range of climatic conditions from four cities in the UK. A prototype ANV system was proposed to determine the most effective case in mitigating overheating. The case was then assessed under identical simulation conditions for all four ANV strategies. The overheating criteria used in the research include the single temperature criterion from CIBSE Guide A and the adaptive thermal comfort overheating criteria from BS EN 15251. Both the current and future 'Design Summer Year (DSY)' weather data were used to examine the thermal performances of the proposed design. The findings show that shading, night cooling and heavy weight structures (ceiling) were all useful in mitigating overheating, with night cooling being identified as the most effective measure. The work assessed the use of ANV in both current and future scenarios to quantify the limits of outdoor environmental conditions under which natural ventilation is an effective strategy for achieving thermal comfort. The adaptive thermal comfort overheating criteria were proved to be easier to meet compared with the CIBSE single temperature criterion. With the adaptive overheating criteria, the given design is predicted to not overheat until 2050 in London Heathrow; and for other places evaluated in the UK (Edinburgh, Manchester & Birmingham), the design passes these criteria. The Centre-in ANV strategies proved to be more effective than the Edge-in strategies for space cooling due to the extended structure thermal mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared office spaces represent a challenge regarding thermal comfort. They have a diversity of occupants and expectations, and they require social interaction, which could imply restriction in adaptive actions, contrary to individual areas that usually allow total control. Hence, this paper aims to identify differences in thermal comfort criteria among individual and shared offices spaces by comparing adaptive opportunities and actions performed as well as thermal perception. Fieldwork was carried out in Chile in 18 office buildings, 9 in Concepcion (36°S), and 9 in Santiago (33°S). Thermal comfort surveys with simultaneous measurements of indoor environmental conditions were performed in each of these buildings during a single day in winter, spring and summer. The findings show variations in the criteria studied, which indicate that thermal requirements differ by spatial layout. Moreover, the results suggest that occupants of shared spaces have a wider comfort range; therefore, some kind of 'adaptation by coexistence' might be happening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is a vast country spread across five climatic zones. The current Indian building codes specify thermal comfort standards for naturally ventilated offices only. This paper presents a year-long field study carried out during 2015–16 to investigate thermal comfort in naturally ventilated (NV) classrooms of three government residential schools located in the composite climatic zone of India. A total of 1890 data sets were collected from children and teenagers in the age group of 10–18 years. The students in naturally ventilated classrooms were found to be more adaptive than what is prescribed in the ASHRAE thermal comfort standards. Indoor operative temperatures of 28.2°C and 19.4°C were recorded as the neutral temperatures of the summer and winter seasons, respectively. The study proposes a thermal comfort range of 16°C to 33.7°C for 80% acceptability. The study also proposes an adaptive thermal comfort model for naturally ventilated secondary school classrooms in composite climatic zones. The results show that students are adapted to higher temperatures in classroom environments. The study provides a baseline for further research in developing thermal comfort standards for secondary school classrooms in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field investigation of rural dwellings, it was found that thermal feelings are significantly different with varied envelopes even under the same indoor air temperature, and this paper explores the phenomenon in simulation. Based on building thermal investigations in several villages of North China, a typical energy and environment simulation model for rural residences was developed using DeST, and the hourly parameters of temperature and humidity were used to calculate the adaptive thermal comfort (APMV) of the rooms. The results show that the main reason for the different thermal comfort at the same air temperature is the large difference in the inner surface temperature. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the envelope structure, the relationship between it and the APMV value is obtained. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the enclosure structure and getting the correlation between it and the APMV value, it is obtained that when the heat transfer coefficient of the enclosure structure meets 0.5 W/(m2·K), the indoors can be in thermal comfort. This paper considers that the indoor air temperature cannot represent the APMV to evaluate the indoor thermal comfort, and the APMV value should be used to evaluate the thermal comfort of the renovated building and calculate the corresponding energy saving rate.

The present investigation carries out a thermal evaluation of two rooms located in the Royal Hospital of Granada (Rector's Office). This is a heritage building where have been done studies that allow the as-sessment of possible improvements in future interventions that guarantee improvement in en-ergy and regulatory compliance are decisive. This article presents for the first time, through energy simulation, the behavior of two rooms in two temporal periods, thermally extreme (summer and winter) and with opposite orientations. This has allowed the potential benefits to be considered in real climate conditions. The results demonstrate and quantify that considering the location, orientation, arrangement of openings, and inclusion of transition zones between the exterior and the interior, an improvement in thermal comfort is obtained. The southwesterly orientation is favorable in the winter period and the northeasterly orientation in the summer period. It is also confirmed that the arrangement of thick masonry walls responds adequately in climates with high thermal amplitudes, favoring the mitigation of extreme conditions. It is concluded by stating that the orientation and the construction components are the main responsible factors for the thermal capacity in this type of building. In this context, the use of non-destructive study methods offers valuable scientific support through the results obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designing for indoor thermal environmental conditions is one of the key elements in the energy efficient building design process. This paper introduces a development of the Chinese national Evaluation Standard for indoor thermal environments (Evaluation Standard). International standards including the ASHRAE55, ISO7730, DIN EN, and CIBSE Guide-A have been reviewed and referenced for the development of the Evaluation Standard. In addition, over 28,000 subjects participated in the field study from different climate zones in China and over 500 subjects have been involved in laboratory studies. The research findings reveal that there is a need to update the Chinese thermal comfort standard based on local climates and people's habitats. This paper introduces in detail the requirements for the thermal environment for heated and cooled buildings and free-running buildings in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the development of a new metric to evaluate the thermal performance of residential houses for temperate climates, named the Adaptive Thermal Metric (ATM). The proposed ATM helps the evaluation of the thermal performance of an entire house by finding the internal air temperature of the building using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation then computes the fraction of time over which the internal air temperature of the house stayed within the 90% or 80% adaptive thermal comfort limits (designated ATM90 and ATM80 respectively). The adaptive thermal comfort approach allows inhabitants to choose an adequate range of internal air temperatures by implementing other adaptive practices such as changing clothes, opening windows, or using low energy solutions (e.g. fans) to adjust their thermal comfort level. The new metric uses temperature to assess a building's thermal performance. This differs from other commonly conventional approaches, which are established based on the amount of energy usage required to sustain an inhabitant's thermal comfort. To verify the modelling technique, the CFD simulated internal air temperatures were compared with the actual temperatures recorded for four full-scale housing test modules, each incorporating a different walling system. This comparison yielded an average accuracy of 93% at any given time for all simulated modules over the 12-month simulation period. Using the above CFD approach, the ATMs were calculated for each building test module over the studied period. The final results showed that the best thermal performance module was the Insulated Cavity Brick module (InsCB), followed by the Insulated Reverse Brick Veneer (InsRBV), Insulated Brick Veneer (InsBV) and Cavity Brick (CB) modules. These findings were accordant with both the house evaluation software used in Australia (i.e. AccuRate) and the earlier results on the walling systems research done by the University of Newcastle in Australia, which were used to assess the accuracy of the ATM. The results indicated that the ATM has the potential to be used as an alternative building evaluation technique to assess the overall building thermal performance in temperate climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A modern house with diverse spaces was investigated. • Spatial configuration, microclimate and thermal comfort were studied. • The spatial configuration provides a good building microclimate. • The spatial configuration provides the possibility for occupants' adaptive actions. • Considerable summer thermal comfort can be achieved in the microclimate. Abstract In this paper, the authors attempt to clarify the relationship between spatial configuration, building microclimate and thermal comfort through the investigation of a modern house in hot and humid climate with spatial diversity. Firstly, the spatial configuration of the house was analysed in detail. The spatial geometric features, spatial boundary conditions, and human activities in the building were categorised. Secondly, field measurements were conducted to investigate the microclimate of the house. The air temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity were monitored on typical summer days. Thirdly, a dynamic thermal simulation was performed to predict the thermal comfort performance of the building over the period of an entire summer. The simulated results were compared with the measurements, and the adaptive thermal comfort approach was used to evaluate the thermal comfort. The modern house studied was found to have a varied spatial configuration, similar to local vernacular buildings, which produces diverse thermal environments in the building. The microclimate of this specific building could provide considerable thermal comfort for the occupants in summer under the local climate conditions, although thermal comfort cannot be achieved through free-running model in the hottest days, mechanical cooling or mixed model are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Most thermal comfort standards and guidelines currently in use do not consider occupants' adaptive capabilities associated with real-world situations when predicting occupant thermal comfort in mechanically conditioned buildings, although the adaptive approach is commonly applied to naturally ventilated buildings. These standards are generally based on results derived from experiments conducted in climate-controlled chambers. In some cases, this can lead to overcooling of buildings while still not satisfying most of occupants. One common method to reduce peak electricity demand is via temporarily increasing cooling temperature setpoint during peak hours. However, the potential negative impacts on occupant thermal comfort and wellbeing calls for further study on this. This paper describes a study conducted on a university campus in the United States that investigated occupants' thermal sensation, acceptability, and preferences corresponding to increased cooling temperature setpoint in parts of the building that are temporarily occupied. The results revealed a potential for at least temporarily increasing cooling temperature setpoint (at least 2 °C) across this campus without impairing occupant thermal comfort. For operative temperatures between 22 and 24.5 °C, the average Actual Mean Vote (AMV) for the class sections remained in the ASHRAE comfort range and the self-reported thermal acceptability was above 80%. Occupants' thermal acceptability dropped to less than 80% when the temperature was increased to more than 24.5 °C, and the AMV values increased to more than 0.5 (on ASHRAE 7-point scale). The percentage of occupants who were involved in some sort of adaptive behavior did not considerably change with room temperature. Highlights • By temporarily increasing indoor operative temperature in campus classrooms from 21 to 25 °C, thermal acceptability remains above 80%. • At 23.5 °C, occupants' mean thermal preference and their actual mean votes equals zero, while thermal acceptability is above 90%. • Occupants' adaptive behavior in this study, with limited adaptive options, is not a function of the operative temperature. • Heat balance model under-predicts the percentage of dissatisfied occupants at environmental conditions warmer than neutral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Worldwide, the residential buildings are consuming a considerable amount of energy. The high potential of buildings towards energy efficiency has drawn special attention to the passive design parameters. A comprehensive study on optimal passive design for residential buildings is presented in this paper. Twenty-five different climates are simulated with the aim to produce best practices to reduce building energy demands (for cooling and heating) in addition to the life-cycle cost (LCC). The occupants' adaptive thermal comfort is also improved by implementing the appropriate passive cooling strategies such as blinds and natural ventilation. In this respect, the implemented methodology is composed of four phases: building energy simulation, optimization, Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM), sensitivity study, and finally an adaptive comfort analysis. An optimal passive solution of the studied building indicates the potential to save up to 54%, 87% and 52% of the cooling demands (Qcool), heating demands (Qheat) and LCC respectively with respect to the initial configuration. The obtained optimal passive parameters are validated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory NREL benchmark for low energy building's envelope. Additionally, the integrated passive cooling strategies have demonstrated its competency since it leads to a significant overheating decrease. Highlights • Residential building's passive design parameters are optimized. • Effect of different climates of Köppen Geiger classification is studied. • Thermal comfort and energy performance of the case-studies are significantly enhanced. • Passive cooling strategies lead to adequate thermal comfort and fewer cooling systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates adaptive thermal comfort during summer in medical residences that are located in the French city of Troyes and managed by the Association of Parents of Disabled Children (APEI). Thermal comfort in these buildings is evaluated using subjective measurements and objective physical parameters. The thermal sensations of respondents were determined by questionnaires, while thermal comfort was estimated using the predicted mean vote (PMV) model. Indoor environmental parameters (relative humidity, mean radiant temperature, air temperature, and air velocity) were measured using a thermal environment sensor during the summer period in July and August 2018. A good correlation was found between operative temperature, mean radiant temperature, and PMV. The neutral temperature was determined by linear regression analysis of the operative temperature and Fanger's PMV model. The obtained neutral temperature is 23.7 °C. Based on the datasets and questionnaires, the adaptive coefficient α representing patients' capacity to adapt to heat was found to be 1.261. A strong correlation was also observed between the sequential thermal index n (t) and the adaptive temperature. Finally, a new empirical model of adaptive temperature was developed using the data collected from a longitudinal survey in four residential buildings of APEI in summer, and the obtained adaptive temperature is 25.0 °C with upper and lower limits of 24.7 °C and 25.4 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Retrofitting heritage buildings for energy efficiency is not always easy where cultural values are highly concerned, which requires an integrated approach. This paper aims to assess the potential of applying passive retrofitting scenarios to enhance indoor thermal comfort of heritage buildings in North Africa, as a hot climate, a little attention has been paid to retrofit built heritage in that climate. A mixed-mode ventilation residential building in Cairo, Egypt, was selected as a case study. The study combines field measurements and observations with energy simulations. A simulation model was created and calibrated on the basis of monitored data in the reference building, and the thermal comfort range was evaluated. Sets of passive retrofitting scenarios were proposed. The results (based on the ASHRAE-55-2020 adaptive comfort model at 90% acceptability limits) showed that the annual thermal comfort in the reference building is very low, i.e., 31.4%. The application of hybrid passive retrofitting scenarios significantly impacts indoor thermal comfort in the reference building, where annual comfort hours of up to 66% can be achieved. The originality of this work lies in identifying the most effective energy measures to improve indoor thermal comfort that are optimal from a conservation point of view. The findings contribute to set a comprehensive retrofitting tool that avoids potential risks for the conservation of residential heritage buildings in hot climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of energy-saving retrofit of rural dwellings is to obtain a more comfortable indoor thermal environment with reasonable investment. The utilization rate of heating and air conditioning equipment for dwellings in poor rural areas is very low, and the buildings operate in natural ventilation mode all year round. Since the existing research on energy-saving retrofit is aimed at air-conditioned buildings, the research methods and results are not applicable to rural dwellings. This paper proposes a set of energy-saving retrofit evaluation methods suitable for natural ventilation buildings and applies it to the research on energy-saving retrofit of rural dwellings in cold climate regions of China. The specific process is as follows: First, this paper analyzed the current situation using field research and established a typical building model. Second, the DesignBuilder software was used to simulate all 725 schemes. Subsequently, the three main retrofit measures (replacing the external insulation windows, setting the external wall insulation layer and setting the roof insulation layer) were analyzed separately, and the optimal parameters of each retrofit measure were obtained. Finally, the entropy weight method was used to perform a multi-objective optimization analysis on all retrofit plans. The results show that 6+12A+6-mm insulating glass windows + 50-mm external wall insulation + 90-mm roof insulation is the optimal energy-saving reconstruction scheme. Compared with the benchmark building, the energy-saving rate of the optimal scheme is increased by 23.81%, and the annual adaptive thermal discomfort degree-hours are decreased by 13.17%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecuador is a country with several climate zones. However, their behaviour is similar throughout the year, with no peaks of extreme temperatures in the various seasons. This paper is a first approach to study the adaptive comfort behaviour in several areas and populations of the country. Considering the ASHRAE 55-2020 model, energy simulation programmes are applied not just to the current climate scenario but also to the climate change scenarios of 2050 and 2100. The results of locations are analysed and compared to determine their performance. Thanks to their climate characteristics, adaptive comfort models could be applied as a passive strategy, using natural ventilation for building indoor comfort improvement, particularly social dwellings. According to previous studies, some prototypes have not considered the climate determinants in each region. Given the geographic situation of the study areas, the adaptive comfort model could be applied in all cases. Percentages of application of natural ventilation and heating and cooling degree hours have similar behaviours according to the climatic region, with a variation greater than 30% among them.

Advances in heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) technologies have dramatically improved the indoor thermal environment, but attention should be paid on how this would affect building occupants' thermal comfort perception. In this paper, we studied the mutually dependent relationship between indoor climate experience and occupants' comfort expectation. An intriguing experiment was conducted in China where wintertime indoor thermal environments in northern cities (with district heating) are much warmer than in southern region (without district heating). By analyzing the 4411 responses from four college-aged subject groups with different indoor thermal history, two interesting findings emerged. Firstly, people's understandings of thermal comfort change with their indoor thermal experiences. Those permanently live in lower-grade non-neutral thermal environment can achieve similar thermal comfort perception as those who live in long-term comfortable thermal conditions. Secondly, the dynamics of building occupants' thermal comfort adaptation project asymmetric trajectories. It is much quicker for occupants to accept neutral indoor climate than to lower their expectation and adapt to under-conditioned environments. These two phenomena can be well described by the index “demand factor”, which can serve as a reference for future thermal comfort study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To move to holistic indoor environmental quality (IEQ) assessment methods of residential building performance in Australia, a relevant evidence base on the comfort behaviour and preferences of contemporary households is needed. A lack of information on the environmental conditions, behaviour and preferences relevant to dwellings in Australia’s hot humid climates has been revealed as an area of ongoing policy and research interest. This paper explores the cooling practices of households living in predominantly naturally ventilated dwellings in Darwin, the Northern Territory through a survey of behaviour, preferences and dwelling construction (n = 102) and a 12-month longitudinal thermal comfort study in 20 houses (n = 2535). The results show that these households employ a range of adaptive behaviours in response to warm and hot conditions. The houses were almost always naturally ventilated, with the assistance of ceiling fans for approximately 50% of the time. The limited use of air-conditioning in these houses is more strongly associated with indoor humidity levels than temperature. These patterns of comfort behaviour provide a basis for the enhancement of building simulation models for the performance assessment of dwellings in naturally ventilated mode in hot humid climates in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses an example of an architect designed and occupied suburban house in the temperate climate of Perth, Western Australia to demonstrate how climatic design and low-technology active systems can deliver thermal comfort in average climatic conditions. However when thermal conditions are more extreme acceptable temperature ranges may not be met. Thermal monitoring in the house over eight days of extreme temperatures in summer and winter shows that acceptable temperature ranges may not be met in winter. During extreme winter conditions south facing rooms fall below comfort conditions by up to 3 K in the late night and early morning. The conclusion drawn is that in naturally ventilated buildings personal and psychological behavioral adaptation must go hand-in-hand with climatic design. This behavioral adaptation may become more important in the future if current climatic extremes become the new normal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, numerical simulations are increasingly gaining ground for the energy saving and thermal comfort evaluation of historical buildings. In the present paper a transient 2D model of the Pavilion 2 B of the Ex-Mattatoio (Past abattoir) in Rome is presented, created by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software based on the finite element method (FEM). The simulations take into account time variations and interactions between indoor and outdoor thermal conditions, with the aim of evaluating different usage profiles and of estimating passive cooling effects in presence of natural ventilation and high thermal masses. The main goal of this work is to show the CFD numerical models potential in quantifying the cooling effects and the indoor thermal comfort conditions, in order to enhance passive and hybrid strategies based on natural ventilation and nocturnal thermal masses precooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buildings generate nearly 30% of global carbon emissions, primarily due to the need to heat or cool them to meet acceptable indoor temperatures. In the last 20 years, the empirically derived adaptive model of thermal comfort has emerged as a powerful alternative to fixed set-point driven design. However, current adaptive standards offer a simple linear relationship between the outdoor temperature and the indoor comfort temperature, assumed to sufficiently explain the effect of all other variables, e.g. relative humidity (RH) and air velocity. The lack of a signal for RH is particularly surprising given its well-known impact on comfort. Attempts in the literature to either explain the lack of such a signal or demonstrate its existence, remain scattered, unsubstantiated and localised. In this paper we demonstrate, for the first time, that a humidity signal exists in adaptive thermal comfort using global data to form two separate lines of evidence: a meta-analysis of summary data from 63 field studies and detailed field data from 39 naturally ventilated buildings over 8 climate types. We implicate method selection in previous work as the likely cause of failure to detect this signal, by demonstrating that our chosen method has a 56% lower error rate. We derive a new designer-friendly RH-inclusive adaptive model that significantly extends the range of acceptable indoor conditions for designing low-energy naturally-conditioned buildings all over the world. This is demonstrated through parametric simulations in 13 global locations, which reveal that the current model overestimates overheating by 30% compared to the new one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Provided a platform to test various residential building control systems. • Used probability of occupancy to determine setback temperature when unoccupied. • Integrated optimizer with adaptive and occupancy control. • Generated dynamic electricity tariff based on wholesale electricity pricing. • Evaluated the peak load shaving potential with dynamic pricing and optimization. Energy consumption in buildings continues to rise with increased deployment of energy-consuming equipment such as Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) amid a growing world economy. Renewable energy is projected to comprise a majority of the future electricity supply, but the intermittent nature of renewables means that consumption must respond to dynamic supply for optimal utilization. This paper proposes a novel HVAC control strategy for residential buildings using the adaptive comfort model, considering occupancy through probability and real-time information, and optimizing the HVAC schedule to reduce cost, maintain thermal comfort, and respond to the dynamic availability of renewable energy while being generalizable to different situations. To validate this approach, the Universal CPS Environment for Federation (UCEF) co-simulation platform is used to connect advanced building controls with the building energy simulation software EnergyPlus. Simulations are performed for a residential building in Sacramento, CA during a typical summer week. Economic impacts, energy consumption, and thermal comfort are analyzed for traditional, adaptive, and occupancy-based control strategies under demand-based, tiered, and fixed electric tariff systems. Simulation results show that occupancy consideration, adaptive thermal comfort, and optimization can reduce cost by 50.1 %, electricity consumption by 52.9 %, and discomfort by 56.2 % compared to traditional fixed setpoints. The ability of the proposed HVAC control strategy to shift energy consumption away from peak times under a demand-based tariff system is qualitatively analyzed and findings suggest that maximum load-shifting on a grid-scale is attained using occupancy consideration with optimized control and demand-based pricing. For individual residential buildings, similar economic benefits can be gained using the less-complex adaptive HVAC control strategy with existing tiered or simple electric tariff systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mosques differ from other types of buildings by having an intermittent operation schedule. Due to five prayer times per day throughout the year, mosques are fully or partially, yet periodically, occupied. This paper examines the potential of using an underfloor heating system for improvement of indoor thermal comfort in a historic mosque, which is naturally ventilated, heated and cooled, based on adaptive thermal comfort method. The selected Salepçioğlu Mosque, housing valuable wall paintings, was built in 1905 in Kemeraltı, Izmir, Turkey. It requires specific attention with its cultural heritage value. Firstly, indoor microclimate of the Mosque was monitored for one-year period of 2014-15. Then, dynamic simulation modelling tool, DesignBuilder v.4.2 was used to create the physical model of the Mosque. The ASHRAE Guideline 14 indices were utilized to calibrate the model, by comparing simulated and measured indoor air temperature to achieve hourly errors within defined ranges. The results of calibrated baseline model indicate that the Mosque does not satisfy acceptable thermal comfort levels for winter months that provided by the adaptive method. Then, the effect of underfloor heating was examined in the second model by the [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the temperature-based approach (using an adaptive thermal comfort model) was validated and compared with the energy-based approach (AccuRate) using four full scale housing test modules located in Newcastle, Australia (Cavity Brick (CB), Insulated Cavity Brick (InsCB), Insulated Brick Veneer (InsBV) and Insulated Reverse Brick Veneer (InsRBV)) subjected to a range of seasonal conditions in a moderate climate. The time required for heating and/or cooling using the adaptive thermal comfort approach and AccuRate predictions were estimated. Significant savings (of about 50 %) in energy consumption in minimizing the time required for heating and cooling were achieved by using the adaptive thermal comfort model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal variation of thermal comfort demands directly affects the energy needs for heating or cooling purpose. In previous studies, the differences of neutral temperatures between summer and winter were revealed, but the studies on the difference of human thermal adaption in transitional seasons are insufficient. To clarify this, this paper presents a year-long survey which was carried out in 505 residential buildings in six cities located in the Hot Summer and Cold Winter (HSCW) zone of China involving 11,524 subjects. Results show a significant difference of adaptive responses in different seasons, and a lag of behavioral responses behind climate change in transitional seasons is observed. Occupants not only adjust clothing insulation according to air temperature in different seasons, but also actively control indoor air movement, including closing/opening windows and using fans. The seasonal, monthly and daily neutral temperatures are studied, implying that occupants’ thermal experience has significant effect on their thermal comfort by behavioral, physiological and psychological paths. According to the comparative study, the running mean air temperature method and aPMV model are recommended in free-running space. The findings provide scientific evidence to the concept that dynamic thermal comfort temperature range should be considered in evaluation of indoor thermal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to explore how a short-term thermal experience influences thermal comfort evaluation. Thermal experience, which refers to the previous thermal environment, may result in the formation of some “memory” on humans. When people enter another environment where the temperature is different from the previous one, the previous experience may result in some different feelings and changes on the evaluations of thermal comfort, comparing with staying in a steady state condition. In this paper, we mainly focus on short-term thermal experience within the time scale of minutes to hours. Climate chamber experiments were conducted for analysis and discussion. The experiment we designed had three sets of conditions: 1) started and ended at an air temperature of 20 °C, and experienced higher temperatures in between; 2) started and ended at an air temperature of 25 °C, and experienced higher or lower temperatures in between, and 3) started and ended at an air temperature of 30 °C, and experienced lower temperatures in between. The evaluations of thermal comfort of the subjects at different temperature conditions were recorded by questionnaires. We found that both comfort and discomfort resulted from the contrast between the current and previous conditions. Even though the initially poor thermal environment was improved a little bit, the evaluation of the thermal comfort would be improved a lot. Additionally, the decrease of thermal sensation caused by cold stimulation was more obvious than the increase due to hot stimulation. People's evaluations could be considered as a combination of both the past and the present feelings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of adaptive thermal comfort was formulated many decades ago and has been validated in numerous field studies. As a result, wider acceptable indoor temperature ranges based on adaptive models have been included in international and national standards and the adaptive approach to thermal comfort is regarded as a significant contributor in achieving low energy building design and operation. Despite the ever-increasing scientific literature on adaptive comfort around the world, the overall understanding of how to translate the adaptive principles into design practice and concepts for operating buildings is still limited, which suggests a gap between the scientific outcomes and the real-world applications. This discussion paper identifies the challenges and gaps in using the principles of adaptive thermal comfort by design practitioners and discusses them in light of relevant research findings. More than 100 literature sources were reviewed in support of the discussion. The paper then proposes a framework that aims to facilitate the adoption of adaptive comfort principles in design and operation of buildings and describes the outline of an imminent guideline for low energy building design based on the concept of adaptive thermal comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite studies on thermal comfort being consolidated in the scientific literature, people's well-being in some specific conditions and places, such as hospitals, requires to be further explored. The paper describes the methodological approach adopted to evaluate thermal comfort level and perception of pregnant women hosted in the obstetric ward of a test-bed case (Sant'Orsola hospital in Bologna, Italy). The methodology adopts a mixed approach that compares the results of on-site monitoring by probe (as quantitative data) with the ones of a survey (questionnaire form) delivered to the involved subjects (as qualitative data) to understand if metabolic alteration may influence the pregnant women's perception of comfort conditions. The first follows ISO 7730, the second, ISO 10551. The comparison between the instrumental collected data and the outcomes of the survey revealed a wide gap between TSV (Thermal Sensation Vote) and PMVm (Predicted Mean Vote, measured on-site). The reason can be identified in the use of a standardized metabolic unit from ISO that does not correctly reflect the physiologic condition of pregnant women. Following a trial and error methodology, a met value for pregnant women is accordingly proposed. Moreover, an adaptive thermal comfort approach is adopted. This research is a first step towards the definition of specific thermal comfort in a hospital ward hosting pregnant women and more generally offers a reflection about the need to define specific met in the standards for some particular categories (children, elderly, pregnant women, etc.) when investigating thermal comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semi-Transparent Photovoltaic (STPV) windows have the potential of active energy-saving and have attracted more attention in recent years. Due to the selective absorption effect of solar cells on solar radiation, the indoor thermal environment and human thermal comfort of buildings integrated with STPV windows are considerably different from that with clear glass windows, and there are few studies on this. In this paper, the indoor human thermal comfort of buildings integrated with STPV window was investigated. Firstly, experiments and subjective questionnaires for the indoor environment were conducted in STPV and clear glass window buildings respectively. Secondly, the influence of illuminance on thermal sensation was statistically analyzed, with the consideration of visual effect, non-visual effect, as well as visual and non-visual coupling effect respectively. On this basis, an innovative thermal comfort evaluation method was provided. The thermo-physiological effect, light-physiological effect and light-psychological effect were comprehensively considered in this method. Finally, the reliability was verified by comparing with TSV. According to tests and questionnaires, it was found that the indoor thermal environment of the STPV window was an uneven thermal environment, and the subjective thermal sensation was more inclined to be slightly warm. When investigating the effect of illuminance on thermal sensation considering visual and non-visual coupling effect, it was found that illuminance had a significant influence on thermal sensation in different illuminance ranges. Meanwhile, it indicated the coupled effect of thermal environment and daylight environment on the thermal comfort of human. • The thermal environment and human thermal sensation for buildings integrated with STPV window are studied. • The influence of illuminance on human thermal comfort through visual effect and non-visual effect is investigated. • An adaptive thermal comfort evaluation method for buildings integrated with STPV window is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A study on housing stock improvement potential in Mediterranean areas is presented. • Three typical case studies were chosen from the stock of a southern Spanish city. • Monitoring on environmental and electricity data and tests logged real performance. • Energy models were built and adjusted based on real occupancy conditions. • The considered building retrofits raise indoor temperature and reduce discomfort. Renovating buildings is one of the major targets within the current European goals toward decarbonized cities in 2050. The residential stock offers extensive opportunities to achieve current energy horizons, since more than 75% of the existing buildings in the European Union are energy deficient, with poorly insulated thermal envelopes which drive indoor conditions far from current comfort standards. This paper aims to provide a protocol for forecasting the upgrading potential of this housing stock in southern Europe, particularly in Mediterranean areas, identifying the level of obsolescence and possibilities for improvement, especially in winter indoor thermal conditions, offered by standard passive strategies. Following an architectural, constructive, and energy analysis of common patterns throughout the urban stock of the southern Spanish city of Córdoba, three case studies built-in 1951–1980 – pre-dating the first Spanish regulations on thermal conditioning in buildings – were selected for the assessment. Long-term monitoring and in situ tests (i.e., infrared thermography, airtightness) recorded the performance of these buildings under real occupancy conditions, subsequently incorporating them into the calibration of simulation energy models, aiming to predict the potential improvements after implementing standard passive strategies in these buildings. Results show that building retrofits not only improve the quality of indoor thermal conditions by increasing indoor temperatures by 3–4 °C but also almost eliminate occupied hours outside the comfort range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outdoor thermal environment is an important factor when measuring the livability of a city. Residents will avoid intense heat by reducing their outdoor activities, which decreases the vitality of a city and increases the energy consumed for air conditioning. Outdoor thermal comfort has a great impact on outdoor activities; therefore, we need to evaluate and design the urban outdoor thermal environments in cold regions to improve the outdoor thermal comfort level. In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey to assess the outdoor thermal comfort and adaptive thermal comfort in four different urban forms in Xi'an during July 2019, and measuring meteorological parameters, such as the temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and black bulb temperature. The results are showed as follows. (1) In the cold study area, urban residents generally perceived the outdoor climate as relatively hot during the summer. (2) The participants exhibited psychological and physical adaptations in terms of their thermal comfort. In particular, when the PET was 30 °C, the MTCV was about 1.25 points higher in the later summer period than the early summer period. (3) The neutral PET differs among regions, and it is affected by the climate zone and latitude. Comparisons of our results with thermal comfort studies in different regions such as Singapore and Umeå in north Sweden showed that the thermal comfort is correlated with the regional climate and latitude. The neutral PET is higher in tropical regions. Our findings support the theoretical understanding of adaptive thermal comfort in cold regions and they provide a reference for formulating policies related to adaptive thermal comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]