Paper 6
The
Theory of Thermal Comfort in Naturally Ventilated Indoor Environments -
“The Pleasure Principle”
Richard de
Dear
Faculty of
Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006,
Australia.
Abstract
Designing for natural ventilation became permissible across an extended
range of climate zones in 2004 with the incorporation of an adaptive model
into ASHRAE's comfort standard (ASHRAE, 2004). This mainstreaming of
adaptive comfort was further reinforced with the introduction in 2007 of a
European standard (EN, 2007) that mirrored ASHRAE's precedent. Despite
broad international acceptance and application of the concept, there
remains a gap in the fundamental theoretical underpinnings of the adaptive
comfort approach. The biggest question left begging is: "How can a
single set of thermal environmental conditions deemed unacceptable in a
conventional HVAC setting be regarded as acceptable and even pleasant in a
naturally ventilated setting?" A related question is directed
specifically at the role of air movement: "How can a single level of
air speed be experienced as an unpleasant draught under one set of
conditions, and yet induce pleasant sensations in different
conditions?" In this paper the physiological phenomenon of
alliesthesia is applied to the specific context of thermal comfort to
provide a deeper understanding of why adaptive comfort actually works in
naturally ventilated situations.
Key words: thermal comfort, acceptability, natural ventilation,
alliesthesia.
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