There has been widespread dissatisfaction with accepted models for predicting the conditions that people will find thermally comfortable in buildings. These models require knowledge about clothing and activity, but can give little guidance on how to quantify them in any future situation. This has forced designers to make assumptions about peoples future behaviour based on very little information and, as a result, encouraged static design indoor temperatures.
This book is the second in a three volume set covering all aspects of Adaptive Thermal Comfort. The first part narrates the development of the adaptive approach to thermal comfort from its early beginnings in the 1960s. It discusses recent work in the field and suggests ways in which it can be developed and modelled. Such models can be used to set dynamic, interactive standards for thermal comfort which will help overcome the problems inherited from the past. The second part of the volume engages with the practical and theoretical problems encountered in field studies and in their statistical analysis, providing guidance towards their resolution, so that valid conclusions may be drawn from such studies.
| List of illustrations |
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x | |
| Preface |
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xix | |
| Acknowledgements |
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xxi | |
| Part I Foundations |
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1 | (130) |
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1 Introduction to adaptive behaviour |
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3 | (6) |
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9 | (12) |
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3 The emergence of the adaptive point of view |
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21 | (7) |
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4 Summertime overheating in schools |
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28 | (12) |
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5 The first international conference on thermal comfort |
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40 | (6) |
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6 Adapting to enforced changes of temperature |
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46 | (3) |
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7 The first meta-analysis |
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49 | (5) |
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8 Clothing outdoors and during sleep |
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54 | (5) |
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9 Meta-analysis 2: relating climate to indoor comfort |
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59 | (7) |
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10 The origin of the Oxford Thermal Comfort Unit |
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66 | (7) |
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73 | (12) |
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12 Raising awareness of the adaptive approach |
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85 | (11) |
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13 Beginning fieldwork at Oxford Brookes University |
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96 | (6) |
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14 PMV and the results of field studies |
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102 | (12) |
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15 Adaptation and the ASHRAE RP-884 database |
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114 | (7) |
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16 Going international: the SCATS project |
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121 | (10) |
| Part II Analysis |
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131 | (230) |
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133 | (4) |
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18 Using the method of successive categories to explore the properties of thermal comfort scales |
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137 | (31) |
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19 Developing, adapting and testing thermal subjective scales |
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168 | (13) |
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20 A simple heat exchange model for thermal comfort conditions |
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181 | (14) |
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21 Regression analysis: general features and effects of data-selection and binning |
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195 | (16) |
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22 The effects of error in the predictor variable |
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211 | (11) |
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23 Mutual relation between room temperature and subjective warmth |
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222 | (11) |
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24 The relation between regression analysis and Probit analysis |
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233 | (12) |
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25 The dependence of subjective warmth on within-day changes in room temperature |
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245 | (14) |
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26 Constructing bell-shaped curves for comfort and temperature |
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259 | (11) |
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27 Tolerance of seasonal drift of indoor temperature |
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270 | (14) |
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28 Estimating neutral temperatures from survey data |
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284 | (12) |
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29 The adaptive relation between indoor temperatures and the outdoor climate |
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296 | (23) |
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30 Do people like to feel neutral? Semantic offsets and zero-errors |
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319 | (12) |
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31 Clothing and thermal behaviour |
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331 | (21) |
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32 Interactions among environmental variables, adaptation and overall comfort |
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352 | (5) |
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33 Drawing the threads together |
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357 | (4) |
| References |
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361 | (11) |
| Index |
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372 | |
Michael Humphreys is known for his pioneering work on the adaptive approach to comfort. He was Head of Human Factors at the Building Research Establishment, and has been a Research Professor at Oxford Brookes University. His scientific interests are the methodology of field studies of environmental comfort, the structure and statistical modelling of human adaptive behaviour, and the interactions between the several aspects of the indoor environment.
Fergus Nicol has led a number of important research projects on comfort, which have influenced thinking internationally. He has authored numerous journal articles and other publications including guidance on comfort and overheating. Fergus convenes the Network for Comfort and Energy Use in Buildings and organises their regular international Windsor Conferences.
Susan Roaf did her PhD on comfort and the windcatchers of Yazd, and after a decade working with Nicol and Humphreys at the Oxford Thermal Comfort Unit, she is now Professor of Architectural Engineering at Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh. She is a teacher, researcher, designer and author and editor of 21 books including Ecohouse: A Design Guide and Adapting Buildings and Cities for Climate Change.
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