Indoor thermal comfort assessment in office buildings in hot-humid climate

Abstract

This paper aims to assess the user’s perception of thermal comfort and air conditioning in office buildings in Batu Pahat, Johor area. Field experiments were conducted utilizing environmental measurement and Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) in Batu Pahat District Land Office (Pejabat Daerah) and (C2 and ORICC) office buildings in the Universiti Tun Hussien Onn Malaysia (UTHM). The environmental measurement was conducted using thermal comfort station BABUC A, whereas the POE was based on the ASHRAE 55-2010 standard. The environmental parameters included relative humidity, air temperature, and air velocity. They were measured and compared with MS-1525, ASHRAE 55, and ISO 7730 standards. Results indicated that indoor air temperature in C2 has good compliance with MS-1525, ASHRAE 55, and ISO 7730 standards and criteria with a measured comfort range of 24 °C-26 °C. Whereas for ORICC and Pejabat Daerah, temperatures were a bit lower than the suggested range. At the same time, the range of relative humidity was found to be higher than ASHRAE limits but complied with other standards. Moreover, adequate air velocity standards were not met in the three office buildings, in which they were measured within 0.4-0.5 m/s range. Furthermore, thermal comfort levels and the POE survey results indicated that users’ in hot tropical office buildings could acclimate to a higher indoor environment than what was suggested by standards.