Field study on thermal comfort of naturally ventilated residences in southwest China

Abstract

Kunming, a city in southwest China, has a climate that is different from most of the other places in the world because of its unique geographical characteristics. Due to its temperate climate, most of the residential buildings in this region are naturally ventilated. Accordingly, a winter thermal comfort study was conducted in Kunming to reveal the thermal response of residents. Indoor and outdoor environmental parameters were measured, and participants were investigated about their clothing, thermal sensations, thermal preferences, and thermal acceptance using online questionnaires. Data from 162 valid questionnaires were collected in the survey. Although the climate is referred to as “mild”, the survey showed that the indoor temperature during winter was lower than the typical comfort range. Nevertheless, the participants responded that most of them felt neutral and comfortable. The neutral temperature of participants living in Kunming was determined to be 16.96 °C. The acceptable thermal sensation vote (TSV) range of the residents is −0.72 to 1.52. The acceptable indoor air temperature range is 15.03 °C to 19.55 °C, and the optimum indoor air temperature is 17.2 °C. According to this study, the existing thermal comfort evaluation models can hardly predict residents’ thermal responses in Kunming well.

摘要

相比于其他曾广泛开展热舒适现场研究的地区,中国西南地区昆明市拥有独特的温和气候特征,该地大多数住宅都是自然通风建筑。笔者在昆明开展了一项冬季住宅热舒适性研究,以揭示居民的热反应。在研究中,对室内外环境参数进行了测量,并采用问卷调查的方式收集了居民的服装、热感觉、热偏好和热接受度等信息,共收集有效问卷162 份。研究结果显示,该地住宅冬季室内温度低于典型的舒适温度范围,而在这样的环境下,大多数受访者感到“热中性”和“舒适”。线性回归分析结果表明,受访者的热中性温度为16.96 °C。通过使用Logistic 回归,得到居民可接受的热感觉投票范围为−0.72∼1.52。通过使用多类别Logistic 回归,得到居民可接受的室内空气温度范围为15.03∼19.55 °C,最适宜的室内空气温度为17.2 °C。将本研究结果与经典的PMV 模型和热适应模型进行比对发现,经典模型难以准确预测昆明地区自然通风住宅居民的热反应。