Optimal clothing insulation in naturally ventilated buildings

摘要

This study focuses on clothing behavior of occupants regarding their 'neutral' thermal sensations inside buildings. Statistical analyses were performed with an aim to better understand how building occupants can achieve thermal comfort by adjusting their clothing insulation. The proposed neutral clothing insulation model can be used to determine whether clothing adjustment can sufficiently offset indoor temperatures in naturally ventilated building contexts. Thermal comfort parameters and diverse contextual variables recorded in the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II were analyzed to define the key factors to be used in the estimation of clothing insulation values corresponding to neutral thermal sensations. The results of the analysis indicated that climate, season, building type (such as office, school, or residential), and indoor and outdoor temperature variations were the key contextual variables to be considered for understanding occupant clothing behavior. Different types of statistical models were also compared to derive the most useful model for predicting the ideal or optimal clo-values inside buildings.