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CHAPTER 8 PSYCHROMETRY AND THERMAL COMFORT

8.3 Thermal Comfort Calculation

Thermal Indices

A person's feeling of thermal comfort is a function of air temperature Tai, mean radiant Tmr at the location of
interest, air movement and humidity, and also personal factors such as clothing and activity.
Various environmental indices are often used as a measure of thermal comfort, including equivalent
temperature, effective temperature, humid operative temperature, globe temperature and (in the UK) the
resultant temperature. Several environmental parameters that affect thermal comfort can be measured directly:

1. Air temperature Tair

2. Wet-bulb temperature Twb
3. Dew-point temperature Tdp
4. Water-vapor pressure pv
5. Total atmospheric pressure p
6. Relative humidity RH
7. Specific humidity W
8. Air Velocity V
9. Mean radiant temperature Tmr. The temperatures of individual surfaces are usually combined into Tmr

Also, globe temperature, which can be measured directly, is close to the operative temperature Top.

The operative temperature is the average of the mean radiant and air temperatures weighted by their
respective heat transfer coefficients.
hc ⋅ Tai + hr ⋅ Tmr
Top ＝ ―――――
hc + hr

The mean radiant temperature is a very important variable in all thermal comfort calculations. It is the
uniform temperature of an imaginary black enclosure in which radiant heat transfer from a person equals the
radiant heat transfer in the actual enclosure. Tmr may be estimated from measurements of globe temperature,
air temperature and air velocity. Tmr can also be calculated from measured temperatures of each room interior
surface. Since building surfaces have a high longwave emittance, the following blackbody approximation for
Tmr is satisfactory:

4 4
Tmr ＝ ∑ ⎛⎛T ⎞ ⋅ F ⎞
i ⎝⎝ ⎠
i p − i⎠

where i = 1.. . . N (N surfaces in room)

Ti = temperature of surface i, k
Fp-i = view factor between a person and surface i

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If small temperature differences exist between the room surfaces, then the above equation can be expressed by
its linear form:

Tmr ＝ ∑ ⎛Ti ⋅ F ⎞
i ⎝
p − i⎠

In a rectangular room, one possible approximation in calculating the view-factors is to model a person as a
sphere for ease of calculation (this would be a reasonable approximation for a seated person). The mean
radiant temperature may also be calculated from the plane radiant temperature in six directions
(ASHRAE 1989).

PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) Model

A steady-state model developed by Fanger (ASHRAE 1989) assumes that the body is in thermal equilibrium
with negligible heat storage.

Rate of heat generation = rate of heat loss

M − W ＝ Qsk + Qres

M − W ＝ ⎛⎝C + R + Esk⎞⎠ + Qres (1)

where
M = rate of metabolic energy production, Watt/m²
W = rate of mechanical work, Watt/m²
Qres = total rate of respiration heat loss
Qsk = total rate of heat loss from skin
C = rate of convective heat loss
R = radiation heat loss from skin
Esk = rate of total evaporative heat loss from the skin

Fanger developed the PMV model for thermal comfort by correlating collected comfort data to physiological
variables. At a given level of metabolic activity M, when the body is not far from thermal neutrality, the mean
skin temperature Tsk and sweat rate Ersw are the only physiological parameters affecting a steady-state heat
balance. Fanger developed the following correlation of environmental and personal variables that produce a
neutral sensation (cl indicates clothing).

−8 ⎛ 4 4⎞
(M − W) ＝ ⎛⎝3.96 ⋅ 10 ⋅ fcl⎞⎠ ⋅ ⎝⎛⎝Tcl + 273⎞⎠ − ⎛⎝Tmr + 273⎞⎠ ⎠ + fcl ⋅ hc ⎛⎝Tcl − Tai⎞⎠ + C1 + C2 (2)

where
C1 ＝ ⎛⎝3.05 ⋅ ⎛⎝5.73 − 0.007 ⋅ (M − W) − pv⎞⎠⎞⎠

C2 ＝ ⎛⎝⎛⎝0.42 ⋅ ((M − W) − 58.15) + 0.0173 ⋅ M ⋅ ⎛⎝5.87 − pv⎞⎠⎞⎠ + ⎛⎝0.0014 ⋅ M ⋅ ⎛⎝34 − Tai⎞⎠⎞⎠⎞⎠

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Tcl ＝ 35.7 − 0.0275 ⋅ (M − W) − 0.155 ⋅ Icl ⋅ ((M − W) − C1 − C2)

⎛⎡ 0.25 ⎤⎞
⎛⎝2.38 ⋅ ⎛⎝Tcl − Tai⎞⎠⎞⎠ convective heat transfer coefficient
hc ＝ max ⎜⎢ ⎥⎟
⎜⎝⎢⎣ 12.1 ⋅ V ‾‾ ⎥⎦⎟⎠

fcl ＝ 1.0 + 0.2 ⋅ Icl if Icl < 0.5 clo

clothing area factor
fcl ＝ 1.05 + 0.1 ⋅ Icl if Icl > 0.5 clo

Equation (2) is expanded to include a range of thermal sensations by using a predicted mean vote (PMV)
index. The PMV index predicts the mean response of a large group of people according to the following
ASHRAE thermal sensation scale:

+3 hot
+2 warm
+1 slightly warm
0 neutral
-1 slightly cool
-2 cool
-3 cold

Fanger related PMV to the imbalance between the actual heat flow from the body in a given environment and
the heat flow required for optimum comfort at the specified activity by the equation:

PMV ＝ (0.303 ⋅ exp (−0.036 ⋅ M) + 0.028) ⋅ L (3)

where L is the thermal load on the body equal to the difference between the left- and the right-hand sides of
equation (1) or (2):

⎛ −8 ⎛ 4 4⎞ ⎞
L ＝ M − W − ⎝3.96 ⋅ 10 ⋅ fcl ⋅ ⎝⎛⎝Tcl + 273⎞⎠ − ⎛⎝Tmr + 273⎞⎠ ⎠ + ⎛⎝fcl ⋅ hc ⋅ ⎛⎝Tcl − Tai⎞⎠ + C1 + C2⎞⎠⎠

Example:
Determine the thermal comfort level in an office based on the PMV model given the following data:

M ≔ 58.2

W≔0 (for normal office activity)

Tmr ≔ 23 ⋅ pv ≔ 1.419 kPa (water vapor pressure)

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Tai ≔ 23 ⋅ Icl ≔ 1.0 (Units are clo)

clothing resistance: fitted trousers and long-sleeve shirt

V ≔ 0.1 velocity m/s

Calculate C1 and C2 (equation 2):

C1 ≔ ⎛⎝3.05 ⋅ ⎛⎝5.73 − 0.007 ⋅ (M − W) − pv⎞⎠⎞⎠

⎛ ⎛ ⎛ ⎛ Tai ⎞⎞⎞⎞
C2 ≔ ⎜0.42 ⋅ ((M − W) − 58.15) + ⎜0.0173 ⋅ M ⋅ ⎛⎝5.87 − pv⎞⎠ + ⎜0.0014 ⋅ M ⋅ ⎜34 − ―― ⎟⎟⎟⎟
⎝ ⎝ ⎝ ⎝ ⎠⎠⎠⎠

Tcl ≔ ⎛⎝35.7 − 0.0275 ⋅ (M − W) − 0.155 ⋅ Icl ⋅ ((M − W) − C1 − C2)⎞⎠

Tcl = 27.761 cloth (body) surface temperature

⎛⎡ 0.25 ⎤⎞
⎛ ⎛ Tai ⎞⎞
⎜⎢ 2.38 ⋅ Tcl − ―― ⎥⎟
hc ≔ max ⎜⎢ ⎜⎝ ⎜
⎝
⎟⎟
⎠ ⎠ ⎥⎟
⎜⎢ ⎥⎟
⎝⎣ 12.1 ⋅ ‾‾
V ⎦⎠

hc = 3.826 convective heat transfer coefficient

fcl ≔ 1.05 + 0.1 ⋅ Icl since Icl > 0.5 (Units are clo)
clothing area factor
⎛ ⎛ 4⎞ ⎞
−8 4 ⎛ Tmr ⎞ ⎛ ⎛ Tai ⎞ ⎞
⎜ ⎜
L ≔ M − W − 3.96 ⋅ 10 ⋅ fcl ⋅ ⎛⎝Tcl + 273⎞⎠ − ⎜―― ⎟
+ 273⎟ + ⎜fcl ⋅ hc ⋅ ⎜Tcl − ―― ⎟
⎟ + C1 + C2⎟
⎝ ⎝ ⎝ ⎠ ⎠ ⎝ ⎝ ⎠ ⎠⎠

PMV ≔ (0.303 ⋅ exp (−0.036 ⋅ M) + 0.028) ⋅ L

PMV = −0.202 (comfortable)

References
ASHRAE. 1989. ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals. Atlanta, GA.

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