Adaptive behaviours to achieve thermal comfort in low energy dwellings in Australia

Internationally and locally, there is increasing interest in the application of adaptive models of thermal comfort in the assessment of residential thermal environments. Central to these models of thermal comfort is the relationship between occupants’ recent thermal history and their use of adaptive controls such as clothing arrangement, window and fan operation, etc. However, existing adaptive models included within the widely used Standards, ASHRAE 55 (2013) and EN 15251 (2007), are predominantly based on observations from non-residential buildings. The aim of this research is to contribute to an evidence base establishing the suitability (or otherwise) of the use of an adaptive model in residential building performance assessment. A longitudinal thermal comfort vote survey of 40 ‘low energy’ households (20 in a cool temperate climate and 20 in a hot humid climate) reveals a wide range of behavioural strategies used by the occupants to adapt to and modify their thermal environment for comfort. The findings presented in this paper support the development of an adaptive model of thermal comfort for residential building performance assessment in Australia.Lyrian Danie