Thermal comfort of students in naturally ventilated secondary schools in countryside of hot summer cold winter zone, China

Abstract

People experience four seasons every year, and their thermal comfort usually changes with the season. However, a little is known about the dynamic characteristics of secondary students’ thermal comfort in the countryside under different seasons. This study aims to investigate thermal comfort of students in the countryside under various seasons and reveal the underlying mechanism. One year long-term field study was conducted in a countryside secondary school in Hengyang City, located in the hot summer and cold winter zone of China. A paper questionnaire was used to collect subjective thermal comfort. The surrounding physical environment was also measured. A total of 450 subjects voluntarily participated and returned 2349 valid datasets. The results indicated students had the lowest acceptance rate with temperature (71.9 %), humidity (74.9 %), and velocity (70 %) in summer season. Neutral temperature was 25.7 °C in summer, 19.2 °C in transition, and 14.9 °C in the winter. An inverted U relationship was found between perceived air quality and air temperature. Cold extremities (53.0 %), shivering (37.2 %), and stuffy nose (60.4 %) were prevalent in winter. Adaptive comfort model was only effective in the summer in naturally ventilated secondary school buildings. Estimated learning performance was the highest in transition and lowest in summer. Behavioral adaptation was determined by the relationship between air velocity clothing insulation and operative temperature. The findings of this study provide fundamental knowledge of thermal environment, subjective comfort, and health status in naturally ventilated educational buildings in countryside area. Engineers and designers can use professional comfort indicators to guide their future construction or renovation.