Dynamic sensation of comfort in buildings : the temperature changes effects

Abstract

The sensation of comfort in buildings depends on exter¬nal and internal variables: the well-known PMV method relates the expected temperature with the physiological behavior of the human body. Some models have discus¬sed the relevance of adaptation factors, in order to ex¬plain the higher expected “good” temperature of users living in warm climates. The same PMV method has been modified for these climatic situations. An adapta¬tion term has clearly to be considered, but other effects are important to determine the real expected temperatu¬re. In this paper temperature changes are considered to play an important role determining the expected “good” temperature. Effects of ventilation, rapid thermal chan¬ges when people move inside or outside of a building, continuous change in the temperature rate in the HVAC controlled spaces, are investigated here. Results show how to determine a dT/dt dependent term, which has to be considering in the PMV evaluation, in warm as in temperate climate. These results will be com¬pared with field studies for different climates. A PID (pro¬portional integrative derivative) correction in the PMV predict results seem to have to be expected, to consider at the same time adaptation and temperature rate effects.