What is thermal comfort?
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Thermal comfort refers to individuals' satisfaction with their surrounding thermal environment, influenced by factors like air temperature, humidity, clothing, and activity levels. It involves the perceptions and sensations of comfort, impacting various sectors like tourism and recreation in adapting to climate change. Understanding thermal comfort is crucial for occupant health and productivity, with the theory based on stable environments but needing further exploration in non-uniform thermal settings. Adaptive thermal comfort, another approach, emphasizes personalized solutions and energy-efficient designs, promoting occupant control and reducing energy consumption in buildings. Overall, thermal comfort encompasses a complex interplay of environmental and individual factors, highlighting the importance of creating satisfying thermal environments for occupants.
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| Papers (5) | Insight |
|---|---|
| Thermal comfort refers to human comfort in the building environment, focusing on adaptive approaches that consider behavioral, psychological, and physiological aspects to enhance energy efficiency and occupant satisfaction. | |
| Thermal comfort refers to the satisfaction of occupants' thermal needs in a way that promotes health and productivity, crucial for designing non-uniform thermal environments efficiently. | |
| Thermal comfort is not explicitly defined in the paper. | |
| Thermal comfort is the individual satisfaction with the surrounding thermal environment, influenced by factors such as air temperature, humidity, air movement, and mean radiant temperature. | |
| Thermal comfort refers to the state of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment. (Answer found in the paper) |
Related Questions
Why is thermal comfort important to athletes?4 answersThermal comfort is crucial for athletes as it directly impacts their performance and safety. Maintaining optimal comfort levels during intense physical activities is essential for athletes to enhance their focus and endurance. Studies have shown that factors like sweating amount and clothing characteristics significantly influence thermal comfort, affecting athletes' overall well-being and performance. Sportswear plays a vital role in regulating body temperature by efficiently removing excess heat and moisture, thus preventing discomfort and potential performance hindrances. Additionally, the thermal environment in sports facilities is a critical parameter affecting athletes' safety and efficiency, emphasizing the importance of proper thermal management in such spaces. Overall, prioritizing thermal comfort through appropriate clothing and environmental control is key for athletes to excel in their sports activities.
How does thermal comfort affects visual comfort in human beings?4 answersThermal comfort and visual comfort in human beings are two important factors that can affect each other. Achieving thermal comfort is crucial for energy conservation in buildings, especially in hot countries, while visual comfort is essential for creating a high-quality internal environment, particularly in educational buildings. However, these two functions often have conflicting requirements that can impact their achievement. Previous thermal recommendations may need to be modified to ensure both visual and thermal comfort are met. Human perception of the thermal environment plays a significant role in behavioral responses to thermal discomfort. In some cases, humans prioritize visual information, which can influence their perception of the thermal environment. The hue-heat hypothesis suggests that light and colors can affect thermal perception, with warm light leading to a warmer thermal sensation. Different colored lights, especially bluish lights, can also influence thermal perception, particularly in a thermally neutral environment. The introduction of daylight into a room can affect both visual and thermal comfort, as it increases illuminance but also raises the temperature inside the room.
How does indoor environment affect thermal comfort?4 answersThe indoor environment has a significant impact on thermal comfort. Factors such as air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air velocity, vapor pressure, clothing level, and metabolic rate influence thermal comfort. Behavioral adaptation is a critical contributor to adaptive thermal comfort, with clothing adjustment, fan usage, AC usage, and open windows being common adaptive behaviors. Climatic features, ventilation mode, type of buildings, and age of the study population also affect thermal comfort and behavioral adaptations. In office buildings, outdoor climatic conditions have a greater influence on indoor thermal conditions in naturally ventilated buildings compared to air-conditioned buildings. Increasing indoor relative humidity can effectively improve overall thermal comfort. The thermal environment in classrooms is affected by personnel population density, temperature variations during different states, and gender differences in temperature preference. To assess thermal comfort in complex environments, sophisticated tools such as human climate chambers are used.
Does thermal comfort improve productivity?4 answersThermal comfort has a significant impact on productivity. A comfortable work environment in buildings increases worker productivity. Existing literature has shown that improving thermal comfort can enhance occupants' satisfaction, well-being, and productivity in built environments. In school buildings, thermal comfort has been found to affect the academic performance of students, and improving thermal comfort can lead to an increase in productivity. Educational buildings should consider the different thermal sensations experienced by children and adults to create energy-efficient and comfortable environments. Inadequate thermal comfort can result in stress for building inhabitants, while improved thermal conditions are directly related to improved health and productivity. Overall, ensuring thermal comfort in buildings is crucial for enhancing productivity.
What is thermal discomfort?2 answersThermal discomfort refers to a state of dissatisfaction or displeasure with the thermal environment. It is a subjective experience that can be influenced by various factors such as physical, physiological, and psychological aspects. Thermal discomfort can be induced by both heat and cold, and it can be measured using different methods such as monitoring brainwaves and analyzing changes in electroencephalograms (EEGs). Factors like temperature, humidity, air velocity, metabolic rate, and clothing insulation are taken into account when evaluating and predicting thermal comfort. The level of thermal discomfort can be assessed using different indices, such as the Thom's discomfort index, which considers outdoor thermal discomfort in a specific location over a period of time. It is important to address thermal discomfort in various settings, including workplaces and buildings, to ensure the well-being and comfort of individuals.
What are the physiological indicators of thermal comfort?4 answersPhysiological indicators of thermal comfort include skin temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), and metabolism rate. Skin temperature has been found to have higher sensitivity and reliability in evaluating thermal comfort in steady thermal environments. HRV, which measures the variation in time intervals between heartbeats, has been shown to be sensitive to temperature step changes and can reflect the risk of thermal discomfort. Metabolism rate, as a biomarker of the thermal metabolism system, has also been used to assess physiological responses to temperature steps. Additionally, other physiological parameters such as dopamine (DA), respiratory rate (RR), blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), and electroencephalograph (EEG) have been explored in relation to thermal comfort. These indicators provide insights into the body's regulation mechanism and can help understand the physiological responses to different thermal environments.