New comfort index during combined conditions of moderate low ambient temperature and traffic noise

This study's aim is to propose a new comfort index for indicating the combined effect of cold and noise stress on the human state of mind. Twenty-two male students were exposed to 20 combined conditions involving four operative temperature levels and five noise levels. The subjects reported their sensations regarding each combined condition. The results show that the auditory condition significantly affected the hot sensation as well as the noise sensation, and that the thermal condition also significantly affected the noise sensation. Both temperature and noise affected obviously the universal comfort and discomfort sensations. Consequently, two kinds of equi-comfort charts were derived. One of the charts, which represents the equal universal comfort sensation derived from the combination of thermal and auditory comfort sensation, demonstrates the exclusivity of the combined effects. The other chart indicates temperature and noise levels in order to quantitatively evaluate the combined effect of cold and noisy conditions based on the experimental results. This chart can reasonably predict human comfort sensations within this experimental condition. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.