Field study on nationality differences in thermal comfort of university students in dormitories during spring in Japan

Abstract

A spring field study was conducted in two university dormitories in the Tokai region of Central Japan. The study aimed at understanding the correlation between subjective thermal responses as well as whether nationality was affecting the responses. It was observed that nationality significantly affected thermal sensitivity and preference. The percentage of air conditioning use for both groups was about 10% , and the rest were free-running.　Both acceptable rates of occupants were invariably above 90% at each air temperature. The relationship between temperature and amount of clothing was investigated. The slopes of the regression lines were 0.097 and 0.021 for Japanese students and International students, respectively. The correlation coefficients were too small. Further research is needed to better understand the difference between Japanese and International students' clothing levels at the same temperature.