Development of the adaptive model for thermal comfort in office buildings of Aichi prefecture, Japan

¹ *Tokyo City University, 3-3-1 Ushikubo-nishi, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama 224-8551
² Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603
³ Osaka Institute of Technology, 5-16-1 Omiya, Asahi-ku, Osaka 535-8585
⁴ Mukogawa Women’s University, 1-13 Tozaki-cho, Nishinomiya 663-8121
⁵ Nagasaki University, 1-14 Bunkyo-machi, Nagasaki 852-8521
⁶ Hiroshima Institute of Technology, Hiroshima 731-5193
⁷ Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Osaka 564-8680
⁸ Shinshu University, 4-17-1 Wakasato, Nagano 380-8553
⁹ Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 739-8527
¹⁰ Akita Prefectural University, 84-4 Tsuchiya, Akita 015-0055
¹¹ Hokkaido University, Kita 13 Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8628

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate seasonal adaptation to temperature in Japanese offices, with a view to suggesting an adaptive model for them. We measured temperatures in seven office buildings and conducted thermal comfort transverse surveys of occupants for over a year in the Aichi prefecture of Japan. We collected 1,228 samples. The occupants were found to be highly satisfied with the thermal environment in their offices. Even though the Japanese government recommends the indoor temperature of 28 °C for cooling and 20 °C for heating, we found that the comfort temperature was 2.8 °C lower in cooling mode and 4.3 °C higher in heating mode, in line with the actual indoor temperatures. The monthly variation in the temperature in the investigated offices was significantly lower than had been found in dwellings. An adaptive relationship can be derived to estimate the indoor comfort temperature from the prevailing outdoor temperature for similar office buildings.