Determinação de zonas de conforto térmico por meio da análise comparativa entre diferentes métodos de caraterização de pessoas termicamente insatisfeitas

Abstract

To maintain thermal comfort and preserve the indoor environmental quality, human beings sometimes use heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. However, due to the global energy crisis, buildings must be prepared not only to provide adequate thermal comfort to their occupants but also to align strategies that enable better energy performance. To this end, this work aimed to determine thermal comfort zones (TCZ) by using different methods of characterization of thermally dissatisfied people. Responses were collected from 481 students, through the application of questionnaires during classroom activities, in the Brazilian winter of 2019. Three methods of determining dissatisfied were adopted, which generated three different equations for the percentage of thermal dissatisfied, named here: APD_1; APD_2 and APD_3, based on the original PPD equation. Using the probit model, three TCZs were calculated: 17.73°C - 22.4°C (APD_1); 20.71°C - 20.93°C (APD_2) and 17.89°C - 24.83°C (APD_3), in addition to a zone based on the linear regression between the thermal sensation votes and the operative temperature of 18.77°C - 22.69°C. All thermal comfort zones resulting from this work have colder temperatures than that indicated by the ASHRAE standard (2017) of 23ºC - 26ºC for the winter, showing the potential for energy savings from the adoption of this type of strategy, while maintaining thermal comfort, since comfort zones were formulated to comply with category B of ISO 7730 (2005).