Impacts of Indoor Temperature and Velocity on Human Physiology in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Climate in China

The impacts of indoor thermal environment on body physiology have been carried on for four years (2003-2007) in laboratory in Chongqing, a typical city located in hot-summer and cold-winter region in China. Experimental objectives used are healthy university students. The range of indoor air temperature in summer is 25 C - 37.5 C.The objectives physiological changes (Motor nerve Conduction Velocity, Sensory nerve Conduction Velocity, Skin Temperature etc.) under different temperatures and ventilations have been tested.
The results show that the effect of air temperature on skin temperature is significant; Skin temperature has a linear and positive correlation with MCV and SCV; Air temperature has a significant effect and a positive correlation with MCV and SCV when indoor air temperature are not too high (25 C - 32 C); In this temperature range, mechanical ventilation can significantly improve the thermal comfort sensation. However, increasing indoor air movement has a little effect on MCV and SCV when indoor air temperature is above skin temperature (34 C - 37.5 C).
Such experiments can provide basic data to establish the standard of acceptable indoor thermal environment for hot-summer and cold-winter region in China.