Review of studies on thermal comfort in Indian residential buildings

Abstract

This article presents a systematic review of thermal comfort studies in Indian residential buildings, to identify the present research scenario, data gaps, and policy interventions. The majority of the studies were performed in a composite climate (10), followed by a warm humid climate (seven), and a very few from cold (two) and hot and dry (two) climates. None of these thermal comfort studies took place in a temperate climate. In addition, seven studies have considered multiple climates for assessment of thermal comfort in residential buildings. This illustrates that thermal comfort studies in Indian residential buildings are scarce, scattered, and unorganized. Further, due to differences in sociocultural setup and local adaptations, wide variations in occupant comfort requirements were reported. This review argues that there are dynamic modifications in individual behaviors due to changes in cost of building energy services and comfort requirements. Only four of the reviewed studies partially considered the occupant behavior regarding control of the indoor thermal environment. The results obtained from these studies indicate that there is pressing need for the localized thermal comfort models that will improve not only the comfort requirements but also building energy performance. Importantly, this review paves the way for harmonised thermal comfort research in India, where a large amount of residential building stock is yet to be built.