Thermal comfort evaluation in naturally ventilated environments. An example in university campus restaurants.

• Grant number: 11/15461-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: February 28, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Technology
• Principal Investigator: Lucila Chebel Labaki
• Grantee: Brenda Rodrigues Coutinho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FEC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In Brazil, the evaluation of thermal comfort is a subject that has been increasingly addressed by researchers. Comfort conditions are regulated by national and international technical standards, which indicate the parameters for users are in a comfort condition in the limit values of air temperature, air humidity and air velocity. These standards are also related to the kind of activity and used clothing. The PMV rates (Predicted Mean Vote) and PPD rates (Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied) adopted by ISO 7730 in 2005, are used as a way to evaluate the thermal comfort for moderate thermal environments. The latest version of ASHRAE 55, in 2004, is based on the same conditions determined by ISO 7730, but takes a percentage of discomfort up to 20% (-0.82 < PMV <0.82) and incorporated some relevant research as the De Dear, Brager and Cooper's (1997) with adaptive model, which relates internal temperatures with external climate for naturally ventilated environments. The goal of this project is to conduct a thermal comfort study in university restaurants of Unicamp, in Campinas-SP, which receive thousands of people every day and also have industrial kitchens for the preparation of food for local users, an environment that generates much heat due to food preparation area and a large concentration of people. Regarding the methodology, as its starting point it will have the delimitation of the search field, making a context of the environment where the restaurants and industrial kitchens are located, observing its occupation. Then the air temperature, relative humidity, relative air speed and mean radiant temperature data will be collected. It will be also estimated the thermal isolation of clothing and metabolic rates from the activities performed at measurements time, according to ISO standards. At the same time will be applied a questionnaire about comfort sensation and the thermal preferences of the studied population. With the application of the methodology and evaluation of data, it is intended to perform comparative analysis between the results generated by the PMV method and the thermal sensation votes of workers. By probit analysis, the results will be evaluated to establish a correlation between the results obtained by the standard and the real feel of workers.

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

COUTINHO, Brenda Rodrigues. Evaluation of thermal comfort in naturally ventilated environments: an example in university restaurant. 2014. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo Campinas, SP.