Field Study of Human Thermal Comfort and Thermal Adaptability during Summer and Winter in Beijing

This study was taken during summer and winter in Beijing. Classrooms and Offices in a university were used to arrange the survey. The authors compared the respondents' appearance of thermal comfort and thermal adaptability to different indoor temperatures in both summer and winter. During the study, indoor environmental parameters such as air temperature, radiant temperature, relative humidity and air velocity were measured. At the same time, respondents' subjective indexes such as thermal sensation, thermal comfort and satisfaction degree were investigated by using questionnaires. The relationship between operative temperature and thermal sensation was founded by standardizing relative humidity, air velocity, clothing insulation and metabolic rate. During the summer study, it was found that the scissors difference between TSV and PMV does not only exist in non-air-conditioned environment, but could also be discovered in air-conditioned environment if the temperature range was wide enough. People had stronger endurance of hot environment than PMV predicted. During winter, the outdoor temperature made prominent influence on thermal adaptability. In winter the outdoor temperature was low, which made people form adaptability of cold environment. If the indoor temperature was very high by using space heating facilities, people may feel uncomfortable since their adaptability of cold was destroyed. Therefore, the over use of heating in winter was not only a waste of energy, but also made people feel uncomfortable.