Thermal comfort and thermal adaptive behaviours in office buildings: A case study in Chongqing, China

Abstract A field study on adaptive behaviours for thermal comfort was performed in office building in Chongqing, China, from June to August, in which a total of 341 valid datasets were collected for further analysis. The results showed that although the separated air-conditioners were in use during working hours, the mean indoor air temperature during summer time was 27.78 °C, which was not with the summer thermal comfort zones specified in ASHRAE 55 standard. However, 93.5% of subjects regarded surrounding thermal environment was comfortable as a result of actively utilizing adaptive actions comprising technical (e.g. turning on air-conditioners, ceiling fan, etc.) and personal (e.g. having cold drinks, adding clothes, etc.) aspects. Air-conditioners was the most popular environmental control in summer. People would like to operate several environmental strategies simultaneously to alleviate thermal discomfort. The clothing insulation values of occupants drops to 0.4clo from 0.6clo in response to the indoor air temperature changing from 22°C to 32°C. The findings in this investigation are benefit for understanding of the interaction between occupants and ambient thermal environment and providing guidance on building energy efficiency.