Statistical Evaluation and Development of General Thermal Comfort Equations for Naturally Ventilated Buildings in Humid and Dry Hot Climates

Abstract

Thermal comfort has become an important element in the design, construction, and remodeling of buildings, as well as in the understanding of human behavior that considers inhabitants’ mental conditions. The objective of this study is to propose general thermal comfort equations via a rigorous statistical evaluation for regions with hot-humid (HH) and hot-dry (HD) climates. From the information on thermal comfort provided in the specialized literature, 17 equations were gathered for hot-humid climates and nine equations for hot-dry climates. These equations were developed for hot climate conditions in zones where buildings operate with natural ventilation (NV). The statistical analysis includes the normality test of the data distribution, the recognition of outliers, and the applications of significance tests for the comparison of the equation parameters. The equations proposed in this paper can be used to initially evaluate the thermal comfort of buildings in locations where no equations have been developed locally, as well as in the energy evaluations of buildings. The equation proposed in this paper for the hot-humid climate is the following: Tc = 16.9 (±2.19) + 0.37 (±0.08) Tout; that for the hot-dry climate is: Tc = 12.9 (±5.36) + 0.56 (±0.20) Tout. These equations can be used to initially assess the thermal comfort of buildings in locations without locally developed equations, as well as in building energy assessments.