Thermal comfort and occupants' behavior in Japanese condominium

Abstract

Occupant behavioral setting is one of the parameters that can affect indoor comfort. This research aimed at investigating the thermal adaptation of residential occupants in Japanese condominium. Therefore, a field survey on occupants’ behaviors for adaptive thermal comfort together with indoor air temperature measurement was conducted from November 2015 to November 2017, in which 32,988 votes were collected. The data was categorized into free-running (FR), heating (HT), and cooling (CL) mode. The results showed that the indoor air temperature was highly correlated with outdoor air temperature in FR mode. In CL mode, the mean indoor air temperature was 27.2°C, which was close to the recommended air temperature for summer in Japan (28°C). In HT mode it was found that indoor air temperature was maintained at an average of 20.4°C. The occupants’ thermal sensation votes were most likely to be neutral. The mean clothing insulation was 0.43 clo in summer and 0.82 clo in winter during FR mode. The occupants were found to take passive adaptive measures along with the use of air conditioning unit for cooling. The findings can be useful in designing more suitable residential spaces which can lead to the reduction of energy consumption.