Adaptive thermal comfort evaluation in a field study

A field study of environmental conditions and occupant comfort were carried in four office buildings in the southeast region of France. The study was made during the summer and autumn seasons, collecting a full set of physical measurements and subjective responses. The measured environmental parameters are: air temperature, operative temperature, air velocity, relative humidity, CO2 concentration, sound and light levels. The subjective responses concern the judgments of participants about the thermal environment at the moment of measurements. In the paper, we describe first the protocol of measurements followed by the description of buildings environments along with the distribution of thermal sensation responses, neutral and preferred temperature and conditions of thermal acceptability. The conformity of the thermal environments to the requirements of thermal standards (PMV, SET) is then checked. The evaluation of the adaptive control algorithm is presented showing its utility.