Designing Thermal Factors: Modelling Heat Balance Variables For Thermal Adaptive Environments

Thermal sensations and associated thermal comfort is based on six primary factors. These factors are used to determine if the human physiology is in heat balance. While the six factors principally are dynamic values, they are commonly used as static factors assuming an isothermal and generic indoor environment. A dataset on how people spend their lives, across 23 nations around the globe suggest that human activity is large similar, but also that activities across the day vary greatly. This study examines the relations between actual activities of humans and thermal comfort by modelling three cases of thermal sensations by designing the thermal input factors of Fanger’s heat balance model. The study demonstrates that thermal factors can be modified to greatly reduce the heated/cooled air temperature, which directly impact the significant energy and economy spend on air conditioning in buildings. The study also suggests that the thermal factors in a much higher degree can be designed to accommodate individual thermal sensations, related more specifically to the activities of the person.