Feedback effect of human physical and psychological adaption on time period of thermal adaption in naturally ventilated building

This study proposed a method to determine time period of thermal adaption for occupants in naturally ventilated building, and analyzed the synergistic and separate feedback effect of the physical and psychological adaption modes on the time period of thermal adaption. Using the method, the values of the time period of thermal adaption were obtained on the basis of the data from a long-term field survey conducted in two typical naturally ventilated offices located in Changsha, China. The results showed that the occupants need to take 4.25 days to fully adapt to a step-change in outdoor air temperature, under the synergistic feedback effect of the physical and psychological adaption modes. The time period of thermal adaption increased to 13 days, if only the feedback effect of the physical adaption mode was accounted for. The difference between the two values of the time period of thermal adaption indicated that the psychological adaption mode can speed up the process of thermal adaption to the variation in the outdoor climate condition. This study presented a new insight into the feedback from the thermal adaption modes to occupant thermal comfort. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.