Thermal comfort study of an air-conditioned lecture theatre in the tropics

Abstract

This paper evaluates the current thermal comfort conditions of an air-conditioned lecture theatre in a tertiary institution using objective measurement, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling and subjective assessment. A CFD tool was used to simulate the indoor comfort parameters, such as temperature, airflow rate and relative humidity. Corroboration between results from the field measurements and predicted values was conducted. It was found that the measured air temperatures, air velocities and relative humidities were within the limits of thermal comfort standards, although temperature and relative humidity were located at the extreme of the limits. The predicted results showed good distributions of airflow characteristics and temperature gradients, and these were in fair agreement with empirical measurements. The overall comfort vote, predicted mean vote and predicted percentage dissatisfied indices found the occupants to be slightly uncomfortable and dissatisfied. Additionally, recommendations were made to improve the thermal comfort condition and reduce the build-up of concentration of carbon dioxide in the lecture theatre.