Journal article
Progress in thermal comfort research over the last twenty years
University of Sydney1
Tsinghua University2
Shibaura Institute of Technology3
University of California at San Diego4
National University of Singapore5
Chongqing University6
University of the Sacred Heart (Japan)7
Waseda University8
Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark9
Section for Indoor Environment, Department of Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark10
...and 0 moreClimate change and the urgency of decarbonizing the built environment are driving technological innovation in the way we deliver thermal comfort to occupants. These changes, in turn, seem to be setting the directions for contemporary thermal comfort research. This article presents a literature review of major changes, developments, and trends in the field of thermal comfort research over the last 20 years.
One of the main paradigm shift was the fundamental conceptual reorientation that has taken place in thermal comfort thinking over the last 20 years; a shift away from the physically based determinism of Fanger's comfort model toward the mainstream and acceptance of the adaptive comfort model. Another noticeable shift has been from the undesirable toward the desirable qualities of air movement.
Additionally, sophisticated models covering the physics and physiology of the human body were developed, driven by the continuous challenge to model thermal comfort at the same anatomical resolution and to combine these localized signals into a coherent, global thermal perception. Finally, the demand for ever increasing building energy efficiency is pushing technological innovation in the way we deliver comfortable indoor environments.
These trends, in turn, continue setting the directions for contemporary thermal comfort research for the next decades.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2013 |
Pages: | 442-461 |
ISSN: | 16000668 and 09056947 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1111/ina.12046 |
ORCIDs: | Toftum, Jørn |