EFFECT OF AIR MOVEMENT ON TRANSIENT THERMAL SENSATIONS UNDER DIFFERENT INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

Abstract

Air conditioning in buildings are essential due to the harsh tropical environment conditions. Due to the adaptive nature of humans, there are some elements of transient thermal comfort that still requires better understanding. Furthermore, with the premise of School of Design and Environment 4, a net zero energy building, the thermal conditions for the students comfort has to be better understood. The ASHRAE thermal comfort model was adapted to study the time based transient thermal sensations of the students. 20 students were exposed to a series of treatments where the temperature and air velocity rates varied. Results were analysed using regression and t-tests. Findings revealed that air movement brought faster thermal satisfactions across temperatures within 6 minutes. Odour sensations was found to similar at 23°C, regardless of air velocity rates. The thermal neutrality and satisfaction points were determined to know the preferences of students in tropical regions, which lay in the cooler region. There were some shortcomings with the experiments such as the scale used in the study and the subjects’ individual preferences. Further research with better research design can be done to better compare the parameters and their impacts for better design of education campuses.