Limitations of climate chamber studies into thermal comfort and workers' performance

摘要

We would like to respond to the article by Lan et al. (2011). In this study, subjects in a climate chamber were exposed to two temperatures: 22 and 30°C. In both conditions, the clo value was 0.9. The subjects performed mental tests and simulated office work. During and after exposure, physiological tests were taken, among them heart rate and respiratory ventilation. The thoroughly thought-out design and the inclusion of several physiological tests give new insight into the physiological mechanisms that contribute to subjects' thermal dissatisfaction and performance loss in air-conditioned environments with high temperatures and a fixed high clo value. The main results are as follows: 1. Mean thermal sensation vote (tsv) is 0 at 22°C and + 2 at 30°C, as is to be expected, given the constant clo of 0.9 and, we assume, low air velocity (<0.1 m/s).