Adaptive thermal comfort of residential buildings in the composite climatic region of India: a field study

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the results of an adaptive thermal comfort field study conducted in the naturally ventilated residential buildings in the composite climate type of India over three main seasons i.e. monsoon, winter, and summer using ASHRAE’s class II field measurements protocols. 768 measurements were collated wherein subjective thermal comfort sensation, preference, and acceptance for indoor environment variables were thoroughly explored along with the adaptive actions of the users for four different times during a day. Correlation analysis helped decipher the relationship between subjective votes and thermal comfort evaluation parameters. Thermal environment acceptance during monsoon season and morning time was highest however the same was found lower during summers and afternoons. The middle age group had the lowest acceptance and well-acclimatized non-native participants had a good thermal acceptance. Education also affects thermal acceptance and it decreases with increasing education level. The comfort temperature and adaptive comfort equation were also studied and results were compared with national and international thermal comfort standards. This study predicted a wider thermal comfort range of 12.23–34.45°C and indicated revising TSI, the first thermal comfort index for Indian Subjects.

KEYWORDS:

• Adaptive thermal comfort
• residential buildings
• naturally ventilated buildings
• monsoon data
• composite climate

Acknowledgment

Authors are grateful to Anusha Naithani, Divyansh Gupta, Icha Kaur, Ketan Gupta, and Sneha Pandey (Undergraduate Students at School of Architecture, Planning and Design, DIT University) for their help and support to conduct field surveys smoothly.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India under TARE Scheme [Grant No. TAR/2020/000283].