A sensitivity analysis of the PMV index to its independent variables

The ISO 7730: 2005 introduces three classes of thermal environments (labelled A, B, C) as afunction of the PMV range value gradually decreasing according to the need of a lower dissatisfiedpercentage. On this point of view, for the A class, requiring severe comfort restrictions, the PMVrange between -0,20 and +0,20 such as the criteria inspiring the prEN 15251 Standard has beenarranged.It is noteworthy that the PMV value evaluated for a certain environment is strongly affected by thechanges of its independent variables (i.e. air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air velocity,hygrometric ratio, metabolic rate and clothing insulation); therefore the precision requirements ofappear a crucial need.In this work an assessment on the PMV sensitivity to its independent variables is reported. Theobtained results clearly show that the PMV range chosen for the A class is almost nearly to theinstrumental error characterising measuring instruments.