Abstract
The objective of this study was to develop an adaptive thermal comfort equation for naturally ventilated buildings in hot-humid climates. The study employed statistical meta-analysis of the ASHRAE RP-884 database, which covered several climatic zones. The data were carefully sorted into three climate groups including hot-humid, hot-dry, and moderate and were analysed separately. The results revealed that the adaptive equations for hot-humid and hot-dry climates were analogous with approximate regression coefficients of 0.6, which were nearly twice those of ASHRAE Standard 55 and EN15251, respectively. Acceptable comfort ranges showed asymmetry and leaned towards operative temperatures below thermal neutrality for all climates. In the hot-humid climate, a lower comfort limit was not observed for naturally ventilated buildings, and the adaptive equation was influenced by indoor air speed rather than indoor relative humidity. The new equation developed in this study can be applied to tropical climates and hot-humid summer seasons of temperate climates.
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References
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Acknowledgements
We thank the support from the Ministry of Education, Malaysia, and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) Grant (No. R.J130000.7821.4F837). Our sincerest gratitude is given to Richard J. de Dear, Gail S. Brager, Donna Cooper, and all of the field study contributors to the ASHRAE RP-884 database. We greatly appreciate the advice offered by the editors of this book and Dr. Nakaya of Gifu National College of Technology.
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Toe, D.H.C. (2018). Development of an Adaptive Thermal Comfort Equation for Naturally Ventilated Buildings in Hot and Humid Climates. In: Kubota, T., Rijal, H., Takaguchi, H. (eds) Sustainable Houses and Living in the Hot-Humid Climates of Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8465-2_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8465-2_14
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