Thermal Comfort Analysis in the Smart Educational Building Together with Modified Model Development

Abstract Thermal comfort is currently one of the most important aspects that should be taken into account so that people could feel good in indoor spaces. The following article focuses on the issue of thermal comfort measurements in the smart building as well as on improving the Fanger model of thermal comfort. The research was conducted during the heating and transitional seasons at the Kielce University of Technology (Poland). Internal measurements were made using a high-precision microclimate meter and questionnaires describing the current thermal sensations of people in 12 educational rooms. 75.37% of people found the environment comfortable, pleasantly warm or cool. The acceptance of the temperature was about 90%, while about 44% of the respondents related their preference to either a warmer or cooler environment. At the same time about 50% felt that a change in temperature was not necessary. The optimal temperature range proved to be from 21.5 o C to 23.5 o C (with the peak at 22.5 o C). Moreover, the Fanger model of thermal comfort was modified by considering two additional parameters: CO2 level and BMI index in the model. This significantly improved the accuracy of the model in terms of predicting thermal sensations of the respondents.