Thermal comfort assessment in a naturally ventilated university dormitory in tropical climate zone/ Avaliação do conforto térmico em uma moradia universitária naturalmente ventilada em clima tropical

• Autor(a) principal: Pereira, Adriana Rodrigues
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Hirashima, Simone Queiroz da Silveira, Oliveira, Raquel Diniz
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Veras
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.brazilianjournals.com.br/ojs/index.php/BRJD/article/view/12795
• topic: Thermal comfort; Natural ventilation; Adaptive model; Static model.

This research investigated the occupants’ thermal comfort in a naturally ventilated university dormitory. A field study was conducted in tropical climate zone in Brazil. To carry out the thermal comfort evaluation the bedroom that presents the worst thermal behavior was analyzed. Climatic variables, such as air temperature, air speed and relative humidity, were measured while occupants answered online questionnaires about subjective thermal perception. The method used involves: a) climatic field measurements simultaneously with application of questionnaires to users; b) data analysis in which thermal comfort was evaluated by the indices PMV and operative temperature; c) comparing the indices results and the perceptions of occupants. Linear regression analysis showed that the neutral operative temperature was 23.79 °C.  For the adaptive model, the neutral temperature obtained was 25.22 °C. The lower and upper limits, for 80% acceptability, were determined as 21.72 °C and 28.72 °C, respectively. The data obtained for adaptive thermal comfort approach showed a correspondence with the users’ thermal sensation. There was no adherence between the occupants’ responses and the PMV approach, demonstrating the low prediction accuracy of the PMV–PPD model in a tropical climate zone. Occupants noticed their surrounding thermal environment warmer than the PMV predicted.