Adaptive comfort from the viewpoint of human body exergy consumption

Abstract

Thermally comfortable indoor conditions can be found using the predicted mean vote (PMV)-approach, the adaptive comfort model, or the calculation of the human body exergy consumption (HBx-) rate. Thus, it would be practical either to find a combined model applicable to all conditions or the underlying effects for the observed differences. This paper compares all three approaches by three distinctive procedures: first, conditions leading to temperatures within the adaptive comfort range and those leading to the minimum HBx-rate are compared first based on hourly weather data and second on general assumptions; Third, for the datasets contained in the ASHRAE comfort database, the PMV-value, adaptive comfort temperature, and HBx-rate are calculated and the results compared. According to the first procedure, a linear relationship between adaptive comfort temperature and minimum HBx-rate is found. The exploration of results gained by using the ASHRAE comfort database showed that the minimum HBx-rate corresponds well to the neutral temperature given by the adaptive comfort model. These results can be used as a starting point for a further exploration of differences and similarities between the three approaches, which may lead to a combined model of thermal comfort. Nevertheless, more detailed analyses are necessary to obtain statistically and theoretically assured conclusions.