Thermal comfort and adaptive behaviors in office buildings: A pilot study in Turpan (China) during summer

Yuang Guo; Hao Tang; Yali Gao; Yuxin Wang; Xi Meng; Gangwei Cai; Jingyuan Zhao; Bart Julien Dewancker; Weijun Gao

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20646

Thermal comfort and adaptive behaviors in office buildings: A pilot study in Turpan (China) during summer

Heliyon. 2023 Oct 6;9(10):e20646. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20646. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Yuang Guo^{1

2}, Hao Tang¹, Yali Gao¹, Yuxin Wang³, Xi Meng^{1

2}, Gangwei Cai⁴, Jingyuan Zhao⁵, Bart Julien Dewancker⁶, Weijun Gao^{1

2

6}

Affiliations

¹ College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, China.
² iSMART, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao, 266033, China.
³ Faculty of Environmental Engineering, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu, 808-0135, Japan.
⁴ School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou, 310023, China.
⁵ School of Architecture, Chang'an University, Xi'an, 710061, China.
⁶ Department of Architecture, The University of Kitakyushu, Kitakyushu, 808-0135, Japan.

Abstract

Nowadays, evaporatively cooled office buildings commonly observed in dry hot areas in summer of China. However, few dedicated studies to record the local residents' thermal comfort and adaptability in these buildings. The contribution of adaptive comfort theory on thermal perception still remains unclear for optimizing office building design parameters. Hence, to deeper probe the adaptive thermal comfort of the related indoor environment, a field study of office buildings during summer considering evaporative cooling air conditioned (ECA) and naturally ventilated (NV) mode was conducted in Turpan, China. Based on 931 valid datasets collected from questionnaires, we found that the neutral temperature (T_n) of 28.4 °C in ECA group, 0.6 °C lower than NV group (29.0 °C). A lower air temperature (T_a) and higher humidity (RH)/air-velocity (V_a) were expected in two modes, and V_a has a stronger influence than RH on mean thermal sensation votes (MTSV). Meanwhile, occupants can adapt to current indoor environment through physiological, psychological and behavioral adjustments, while the clothing regulation had limited effect on MTSV unless the outdoor temperature exceeds 38 °C. Whether in ECA or NV mode, the predicted mean votes (PMV) model overestimated actual thermal sensation when operative temperature (T_op) beyond 28 °C. Adaptive models were also proved varied from that in current standards, which indicated that they were not suitable for evaluating the studied buildings in Turpan. Above findings could suggest us a better understanding of the occupants' thermal adaptability, thereby providing the reference of design parameters revision and passive strategies for local newly/renovated buildings.

Keywords: Adaptive model; Behavioral adjustment; Dry hot climate; Office buildings; Thermal comfort.