Thermal comfort in the humid tropics: field studies in naturally ventilated dwellings

Abstract

This paper presents a group of field studies on thermal comfort in naturally ventilated dwellings of light construction in hot and humid climate conditions (Maracaibo-Venezuela). It aims to contribute to the establishment of local standards of thermal comfort for building design and construction. The analysis is based on the adaptive principle that establishes that thermally comfortable temperatures are conditioned by social, historical, technological and economical factors and depend on seasonal, geographical and cultural variations. Thermal sensations were obtained from persons who spend most of their time in naturally ventilated spaces. Comfort temperatures are estimated for each field study considering indoor dry-bulb and mean global temperatures. These comfort temperatures are correlated with the monthly means of outdoor air temperatures on the last 4 years and the mean global temperatures, comparing these results with other international reference studies.