Understanding the challenges of determining thermal comfort in vernacular dwellings: A meta-analysis

The thermal comfort assessment of vernacular dwellings, as well as their inherently linked thermal dy-namic modelling process, present specific challenges which remain unaddressed in the literature. The overarching purpose of this review is to identify and analyse the main methods and challenges in ther-mal comfort evaluation and modelling of vernacular dwellings and recommend pathways for future im-provement.The main challenges found regarding thermal comfort evaluation intertwine with those of modelling vernacular dwellings. These are: i. the inadequacy of current standards; ii. the use of steady-state ap-proaches despite evidence of their inadequacy; iii. the lack of a clear monitoring framework and insuf-ficient occupant surveying; iv. increased uncertainty from imprecise or unfeasible in situ monitoring; v. inaccurate modelling, due to: a lack of consistent methodology and guidelines for hygrothermal model calibration; imprecise input data and; inherent software limitations in modelling vernacular elements. The main recommendations identified through this analysis include the improvement of current com-fort standards and models based on further long-term field studies and the possibility of adjusting their thresholds, the development of a common monitoring framework and which parameters to focus on, and the creation of a standard on hygrothermal model calibration entailing the most adequate indexes and variables.(c) 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This article reviews the methods and challenges in thermal comfort evaluation and modeling of vernacular dwellings and provides recommendations for future improvements. The main challenges identified include inadequate current standards, reliance on steady-state approaches despite their limitations, lack of a clear monitoring framework and insufficient occupant surveying, uncertainties from inaccurate in situ monitoring, and inaccurate modeling due to a lack of consistent methodology and software limitations. The recommendations include improving current comfort standards and models, conducting long-term field studies, establishing a common monitoring framework, and developing a standard for hygrothermal model calibration.