Thermal Comfort of Neutral Ventilated Buildings in Different Cities

Abstract

Although the ASHRAE 55-1992 and ISO 7730 Standards are used all over the world, many researchers have pointed out that it is impossible to maintain a uniform thermal comfort standard worldwide because of differing climate conditions. Two field thermal comfort investigations were carried out in Shanghai and Changsha. In the hot season the neutral temperature in Changsha and Shanghai is 27.5? ET* and 26.5? ET*, respectively. Compared with other cities' studies, in Beijing and Tianjin, this paper discusses thermal comfort conditions in China. The results show that thermal neutral temperature in these Chinese cities is higher than that in the ASHRAE standard. Therefore, thermal comfort temperature in China cannot directly correlate with the ASHRAE standard. This difference should be considered when designing air conditioning designing to save energy.