ADAPTIVE THERMAL COMFORT IN THE WET TROPICS FOR HOUSING DESIGN WITH PASSIVE COOLING

Abstract

Current developments in adaptive concept in thermal comfort research have underlined the importance of exploring thermal comfort in different environmental contexts. A better understanding in this area becomes a challenging topic to explore for development of suitable comfort standard for the wet tropics for thermal housing design with passive cooling. This study uses the adaptive thermal comfort model with different approaches to assess the applicability of these approaches in the wet tropics. The neutral temperature for regions having wet tropical climate including Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah State located in east Malaysia was estimated and a comparison between different approaches was made. The limitation of the adaptive approach in the humid tropics was further clarified. The required air movement for thermal comfort for the wet tropics was also suggested.