User Satisfaction with Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings

Abstract

Thermal comfort in nonresidential buildings is evaluated in accordance with the European standard EN 15251 which defines two comfort models based on the cooling concept implemented in the building: the adaptive model and the PMV model. However, many office and administration buildings cannot be clearly allocated to a specific comfort model according to the respective cooling concept employed. A field study confirms that the standard for thermal interior comfort should provide two models. However, the strict allocation of building categories (building with/without mechanical cooling) in EN 15251 could not be verified. It seems reasonable to classify buildings into air-based and water-based low-energy cooling systems with limited cooling capacity or to do so with respect to the degree of coupling between indoor and outdoor climate conditions.