Thermal Comfort in air-conditioned Campus Buildings in Kuwait

Farraj. F. Al-ajmi^1,

¹Department of Civil Engineering, College of Technological Studies, Shuwaikh 70654, Kuwait

Cite this paper:
Farraj. F. Al-ajmi. Thermal Comfort in air-conditioned Campus Buildings in Kuwait. American Journal of Civil Engineering and Architecture. 2020; 8(1):12-18. doi: 10.12691/ajcea-8-1-2

Abstract

A field study on the environmental conditions and thermal comfort was carried out in seven educational buildings in College of Technological Studies (CST) at the capital of state of Kuwait. These buildings were mechanically air-conditioned to assess their indoor thermal comfort during summer season. The study was made in summer 2017 to collect a full set of 136 subjects providing 136 sets of physical measurements and subjective assessments through questionnaires. The measured environmental parameters were air temperature, relative humidity air velocity. The subjective responses concern the judgment of the respondents about the thermal environment at the moment of measurements. By using linear regression analysis of responses on the ASHRAE seven-point thermal sensation scale, the neutral operative temperatures based on Actual Mean Vote (AMV) and Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) were found to be 22.9°C and 18.9°C, respectively. However, PMV predictions underestimated observed neutrality by less than AMV of about 4°C. This may indicate that ISO 7730 standard method for calculating PMV of the sensation underestimate the individual's actual sensation in dry desert climate like that of Kuwait. Findings from this study should be considered when designing air conditioning for educational buildings. This knowledge can contribute towards the development of future energy-related design codes for Kuwait.

Keywords:
thermal comfort indoor environments indoor air quality classroom educational buildings energy consumption predicted mean vote dry desert climates

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