MN-00-04-1 -- Outdoor Temperature and Indoor Thermal Comfort: Raising the Precision of the Relationship for the 1998 ASHRAE Database of Field Studies PDF

Relations between indoor neutral temperatures and outdoor temperatures are currently proposed as an "adaptive standard" to supplement ASHRAE Standard 55-1992. They rest on the 1998 ASHRAE database. Humphreys and Nicol drew attention to the depression of the regression coefficient by measurement and formulaic error in thermal comfort indices. This paper applies their suggested correction, and improves the precision of the relations. Comparison is made with similar relations from earlier data. The relation for unheated, naturally ventilated buildings has remained unchanged. The form of the relation for the HVAC and heated buildings has remained similar. However, the neutral temperatures in the new data were about 2°C higher where the outdoor temperature is in the region of 0°C. The outdoor mean air temperature is as satisfactory as Effective Temperature (ET*) as a statistical predictor of the indoor neutral temperatures. These findings confirm the stable basis of the proposed adaptive standards.

Units: SI