Calculating Comfort Indexes and Applying Comfort Models to Predict Thermal Sensation Vote in Sports Centres

Abstract

Predicting the indoor thermal comfort of people while doing sports might pose challenges, as the combination of high metabolic rate, increased humidity of the space due to physical exercise, and the alternate of more and less intense tasks influence perception. This paper is aimed at comparing environmental data (temperature and relative humidity) and calculating comfort indexes (heat index) and two comfort models (Fanger’s predicted mean value and the adaptive thermal comfort model) with people’s perceptions of the environment. Indoor environmental data for the analysis were collected by monitoring several rooms in eight sports centres in a Mediterranean climate. The thermal sensation votes (TSVs) of the occupants were obtained through an online survey. A detailed explanation of the methodology of the monitoring, creation, and management of the survey and the tools used to analyse the data is provided. Results compare the relation between the TSV and the parameters or indexes calculated. Fanger’s predicted mean vote (PMV) model is not able to correctly predict people’s sensations, neither for low nor for high metabolic rates. Finally, the neutral temperature of the adaptive model for the studied conditions is calculated. Among the studied parameters and indices, temperature exhibits the strongest correlation with the thermal sensation of the occupants. However, occupants did not report a significant sensation regarding humidity in accordance with the objective conditions of the rooms. The heat index also did not show any significant correlation with the TSV. Nevertheless, across a wide range of conditions, including variations in metabolic activities, temperature, and relative humidity, the percentage of thermal dissatisfaction (indicated by “very hot” responses) remains consistently high. Notably, the temperature at which a peak in neutral sensation can be achieved is less than 21° for low metabolic rate activities.