Development of thermal comfort models for various climatic zones of North-East India

Thermal comfort study provides crucial information about thermal performance of naturally ventilated buildings. Humphreys and Auliciems comfort model uses indoor and outdoor temperatures to predict comfort temperatures. It is found that the comfort temperatures obtained by using these methods do not take into account the occupant behavioral adaptability to a particular climatic zone. This demands development of new set of comfort models based on local environmental parameters, socio-cultural setup and behavioral action. Analysis shows that four major variables like indoor and outdoor temperature, relative humidity and clothing pattern plays an important role in defining comfort and greatly influence the occupant’s perception and acceptance on thermal comfort. In this study, comfort models are developed based on these variables. The computed neutral temperatures based on the models are compared with the comfort temperatures obtained through comfort survey. The models are developed using the measured data of January and July months and validated with the measured data of April and October months. This study also concludes that it is not possible to obtain a generalized thermal comfort model for all climatic zone because adaptation process, expectation and perception of people are region specific and governed by local socio-cultural requirement.