Quantitative characterization of clothing's cold protective capability to achieve thermal comfort: A systematic review

Humanity lacks a clear concept of how to choose clothing that can provide the appropriate insulation in cold weather, which obviously affects their thermal comfort and energy wastage due to overheating or overcooling by running air conditioning indoors. Although comprehensive research in the field of cold weather clothing is incontestable, there is still a lack of thorough and critical reviews of the current state of research in this field, especially considering how to quantitatively characterize the cold protective capability of clothing is easier to understand. This study has systematically reviewed 30 studies from over 67 academic publications on clothing's cold protection capability and examined the focus objects of study, the characterization indexes, and test methods, as well as the limitations and influencing factors. The review has identified a lack of cold protection research on clothing for infants, children, and the older adults. Manufacturers of cold weather clothing marked temperature ratings on clothing to indicate the amount of warmth still has limitations. In particular, it is essential for future studies to explore more human activity levels and different environmental conditions that are not considered in the existing literature. Furthermore, heat storage should be considered within a reasonable range and not just 0 kJ/(m2.h) for the development of a temperature rating prediction model. The study serves as a reference to manufacturers to improve the design of cold weather clothing and human who requires wearing appropriate clothing to help them achieve thermal comfort in cold weather.

Automated summary

This study systematically reviews 30 studies on the cold protection capability of clothing and identifies the lack of research in specific populations and under different environmental conditions. The study highlights the limitations of temperature ratings on clothing and suggests considering heat storage for the development of a temperature rating prediction model.