Integrated daylight and thermal comfort evaluation for tropical passive gymnasiums based on the perspective of exercisers

Abstract

This study measured and surveyed four passive community gymnasiums with open facades in a tropical climate to explore the relationship between occupant daylight, thermal comfort, and environmental indicators during exercise. A questionnaire survey was conducted on exercisers to evaluate their satisfaction. Compared with the daylight environment, the subjects were more satisfied the intervention mechanism of the daylight and thermal environment indicators for the comfort level of participants in their respective dimensions with the indoor thermal environment of the four test cases. Hereafter, linear regression was used to explore the influencing mechanisms of daylight and thermal comfort on environmental indicators, the result showed that illuminance uniformity and natural ventilation were the main factors affecting occupant comfort. In order to improve the accuracy of the prediction model, the radial basis function (RBF) neural network was introduced to analyze the influence weight of different indicators on integrated sunlight and thermal comfort (IDTC), and a prediction model was established. Compared to the linear model, RBF has improved the predictive fit for DC, TC, and IDTC by 0.42, 0.33, and 0.39, respectively. This study integrates the assessment of daylight and thermal comfort, emphasizing the effect of passive climate conditioning indoors in sports facilities. The findings of the study can provide guidance for the improvement of the environmental quality of sports facilities and the satisfaction of exercisers in hot and humid climate.