Occupants’ Thermal Sensation in Mixed-Mode Buildings: The Contribution of Thermal Disposition to Interindividual Variability

Interindividual differences in thermal perception remain an important challenge for thermal comfort assessment, particularly in mixed-mode buildings. This study investigates interindividual variability in thermal sensation in a mixed-mode office building in southern Brazil, focusing on the explanatory contribution of thermal disposition. A secondary analysis was conducted using longitudinal field data comprising 2741 questionnaire responses from 159 participants. Indoor air and globe temperatures, relative humidity, and air velocity were monitored, and operative temperature was derived from these measurements. Linear mixed-effects models with participant-specific random intercepts were used to account for repeated observations. Operative temperature, thermal disposition, gender, building operation mode, and body mass index were progressively included as explanatory variables. Adding operative temperature to the baseline model significantly improved model fit (p-value < 0.001) and was positively associated with thermal sensation (fixed-effect coefficient β = 0.157, p-value < 0.001). Adding thermal disposition further improved model fit (p < 0.001), with this specification presenting the lowest Bayesian Information Criterion among the hierarchical models. Occupants classified as heat-sensitive according to their self-reported thermal disposition reported higher thermal sensation votes under comparable operative temperatures. Gender and building operation mode were also significant, whereas body mass index was not. Overall, thermal disposition contributed additional explanatory information on interindividual variability in thermal sensation.