Abstract
Thermal discomfort is one of the main triggers for occupants’ interactions with components of the built environment such as adjustments of thermostats and/or opening windows and strongly related to the energy use in buildings. Understanding causes for thermal (dis-)comfort is crucial for design and operation of any type of building. The assessment of human thermal perception through rating scales, for example in post-occupancy studies, has been applied for several decades; however, long-existing assumptions related to these rating scales had been questioned by several researchers. The aim of this study was to gain deeper knowledge on contextual influences on the interpretation of thermal perception scales and their verbal anchors by survey participants. A questionnaire was designed and consequently applied in 21 language versions. These surveys were conducted in 57 cities in 30 countries resulting in a dataset containing responses from 8225 participants. The database offers potential for further analysis in the areas of building design and operation, psycho-physical relationships between human perception and the built environment, and linguistic analyses.
Highlights
Background & SummaryOccupants have a significant influence on their indoor environment and its energy use through their presence and interactions with the building envelope and control system[1,2,3,4,5]
According to the widely-used definition by the American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), “Thermal comfort is the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment and is assessed by subjective evaluation”[8]
Further assumptions existing for other dimensions of thermal perception, here: thermal comfort and thermal acceptance, can be assessed. Another important assumption in the field of thermal comfort to be reviewed through our dataset, postulates that occupants would be satisfied with the indoor thermal conditions, if they chose one of the middle three verbal anchors of the ASHRAE thermal sensation scale (“slightly cool”, “neutral”, or “slightly warm”)
Summary
Occupants have a significant influence on their indoor environment and its energy use through their presence and interactions with the building envelope and control system[1,2,3,4,5]. The Scales Project aims at investigating participants’ concept relating to verbal anchors of thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and thermal acceptance scales and to review the validity of existing assumptions (see below) regarding the interpretation of responses on these scales. Thermal sensation is most frequently assessed using the seven-point ASHRAE thermal sensation scale, with the verbal anchors “cold”, “cool”, “slightly cool”, “neutral”, “slightly warm”, “warm”, and “hot”. Further assumptions existing for other dimensions of thermal perception, here: thermal comfort and thermal acceptance, can be assessed Another important assumption in the field of thermal comfort to be reviewed through our dataset, postulates that occupants would be satisfied with the indoor thermal conditions, if they chose one of the middle three verbal anchors of the ASHRAE thermal sensation scale (“slightly cool”, “neutral”, or “slightly warm”). The detailed description and availability of questionnaires, available in multiple languages, can serve as a benchmark for future thermal comfort studies and permit replication to other contexts, for example libraries or offices, or other cohorts such as office workers or older people
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