抄録
A longitudinal study of thermal sensations of occupants of an air conditioned commercial office building was conducted at approximately monthly intervals over a period of two years. In the morning and again in the afternoon of each visit day, participants recorded their thermal sensations together with details of current clothing ensembles and activities while concurrent measurements of physical variables were made nearby. A total of 1627 responses were collected. Operative temperatures were recorded in the range from 20°C to 27.5°C depending on location, time of day and season. Temperatures were concentrated toward the upper end of the range in summer and the lower end in winter. Seventy one participants contributed ten or more reports. A large majority indicated acceptability within a personal range of 5°C to 6°C at some time during the study. However a number of them indicated one or more occasions when a condition was unacceptable both within and outside the range of personal acceptability. Large between-subject variation was observed in estimated values for clothing insulation and metabolic rate. Mean clothing insulation values varied during the year from lower in summer to higher in winter. It was also observed that a significant proportion of subjects added or removed an item of clothing during the day with consequent change to the value of insulation provided by it. Overall 80 percent of responses indicated acceptability. It is concluded that the respondents were engaged in an adaptive dialogue with the thermal control system, intended to achieve a balance between available thermal conditions and their individual requirements at the time. This dialogue appears successful most of the time but breaks down occasionally, possibly when an unexpected event during the day produces a set of conditions that cannot be accommodated by the available options for change.
