Adaptive Thermal Comfort for Buildings in Portugal based on Occupants ’ Thermal Perception

ABSTRACT: Three years ago, LNEC initiated an interdisciplinary research study intended to develop an adaptive approach with a view to defining the indoor thermal comfort requirements applicable to Portuguese buildings. Extensive field surveys (285) have been carried out on office and educational buildings, both conventional and special (elderly homes) residential buildings. Field surveys assessed and measured the main indoor environmental parameters during summer, winter and mid-season, and, simultaneously, the occupants’ perspective was evaluated through questionnaire. This paper proposes and justifies an adaptive thermal comfort variable (Comf) consisting of thermal sensation and thermal preference. Considering this new variable, a linear regression (R2=0.85), between the corresponding temperature (Tcomf) and the outside temperature, was presented, as well as the thermal comfort range for the different analysed population samples