Comparison of thermal comfort algorithms in naturally ventilated office buildings

With the actual environmental issues of energy savings in buildings, there are more efforts to prevent any increase in energy use associated with installing air-conditioning systems. The actual standard of thermal comfort in buildings ISO 7730 is based on static model that is acceptable in air-conditioned buildings, but unreliable for the case of naturally ventilated buildings. The different field studies have shown that occupants of naturally ventilated buildings accept and prefer a significantly wider range of temperatures compared to occupants of air-conditioned buildings. The results of these field studies have contributed to develop the adaptive approach. Adaptive comfort algorithms have been integrated in EN15251 and ASHRAE standards to take into account the adaptive approach in naturally ventilated buildings. These adaptive algorithms seem to be more efficient for naturally ventilated buildings, but need to be assessed in field studies. This paper evaluates different algorithms from both static and adaptive approach in naturally ventilated buildings across a field survey that has been conducted in France in five naturally ventilated office buildings. The paper presents the methodology guidelines, and the thermal comfort algorithms considered. The results of application of different algorithms are provided with a comparative analysis to assess the applied algorithms. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.