A thermal comfort evaluation based on different occupancy levels in hospitals in a hot-humid region

摘要

A field study on evaluating thermal comfort has been carried out on one of the large scale teaching hospitals in Malaysia, acountry located in a tropical area. The main objective of this study was to find the sensibility of two personal factors affecting human thermal sensation. Activity rate and clothing insulation value are two parameters that may vary based on different occupancy levels in hospitals,but are effective in thermal comfort assessment.The field study for this paper was carried out at the medical centre of UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), on various occupants. The study results confirm that the thermal comfort requirements for 3 main user groups in a hospital, namely staff, patients and visitors, are not the same due to varying individual activity and clothing.