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Requirements of thermal comfort in residential buildings for the elderly.

Author(s) : WU Y. L., WENG T. C., CHUNG K. C.

Summary

With the population of adults over 60 years of age increasing, Taiwan has entered the era of an aging society since 2000. As far as the living environment is concerned, the elderly people tend to have requirements that are more diversified than those by other age groups, as the elders typically spend more of their time and activities at home every day. This study investigated the thermal sensation of elderly people in Taiwan for the indoor environment in which they resided and the requirements of the elderly for thermal comfort. Eighty-seven adults of an age greater than 60 years old (37 males and 50 females), with an average of 71, were included in the study. The investigation was conducted by means of field surveys, using both thermal sensation questionnaire and on-site measurement of the physical parameters relevant to thermal condition evaluation (including air temperature, global temperature, relative humidity, mean radiant temperature, and air velocity). The results show: the indoor operative temperature preferred by the occupants was 25.0°C, with the temperature of thermal neutrality being 25.2 and 23.2°C for the summer and the winter, respectively. The range of indoor operative temperature considered thermally comfortable by the elders was 24.0-27.0°C for the summer and 20.2-26.3°C for the winter. The predominant strategy of the elderly for thermal adaptation was clothing adjustment; the elders were more sensitive to the change in thermal status in the summer when clothing adjustment as an option of thermal adaptation was less available than in the winter.

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Pages: pp. 161-166

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Details

  • Original title: Requirements of thermal comfort in residential buildings for the elderly.
  • Record ID : 2010-0911
  • Languages: English
  • Source: ACRA-2009. The proceedings of the 4th Asian conference on refrigeration and air conditioning: May 20-22, 2009, Taipei, R.O.C.
  • Publication date: 2009/05/20

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