Skin Temperature and Thermal Sensation: A preliminary study for development of personal comfort model based on physiological responses
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/bei.2023.4Keywords:
Thermal Comfort, Thermal Sensation, Physiological Responses, Facial Skin TemperatureAbstract
Indoor Thermal Comfort is an important goal in building design and management, as it is of great importance to the building occupants in various dimensions. The Personal Comfort Model (PCM) is a new approach to assessing thermal comfort aimed at solving individuals’ differences, which are the limitations of traditional models. PCM aims to predict an individual's thermal comfort based on the direct response of occupant. The human skin is a significant part of the body in human thermoregulation, so skin temperature has been widely used in previous studies. However, studies on PCM are still limited. Therefore, the objective of this research is to study facial skin temperature, skin temperature variations, and analyze the relationship between facial skin temperature and thermal sensation under various temperature conditions. This led to the development of individual thermal comfort models based on the skin temperature of building users in hot and humid climates. The research collected data from volunteers accustomed to hot and humid climates in a laboratory with temperature gradient between 21oC and 29oC. The facial skin temperature is collected with an infrared camera. Meanwhile, thermal sensations are surveyed using questionnaires. The results show a correlation between skin temperature and thermal sensation and suggest an appropriate approach for future development of a personal comfort model. The results of the study demonstrated a correlation between skin temperature and thermal sensations that suggested an appropriate approach to developing a personalized comfort model in further studies.
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