Global Collaboration Aims to Redefine Thermal Comfort in Buildings

Will develop thermal comfort index that better reflects individual differences and informs global standards

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503), Waseda University and Technical University of Denmark announced today that they have jointly signed an agreement with The University of Sydney to develop a thermal comfort index that accurately predicts individual thermal sensations, which they plan to promote for adoption as an international standard.

There is a growing demand for office environments that support the health, comfort, and productivity of workers, particularly in light of a shrinking working-age population in many countries. While many factors influence office environments, one of the most significant is thermal conditions, which encompass air temperature, mean radiant temperature, humidity, air velocity, clothing insulation, and metabolic rate.

An existing standard, the Predicted Mean Vote (PMV), has been widely used to assess thermal environments by calculating people’s expected sensations of heat or cold based on environmental conditions (such as air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity) and human factors (including clothing insulation and metabolic rate). Since its adoption as an international standard (ISO 7730) in 1984, the PMV has been applied in the design and operation of buildings worldwide. However, because PMV predictions are based on statistical averages encompassing large numbers of people, it cannot fully capture the individual differences that occur within a typical office population. Even when indoor thermal environments are optimized for PMV, some occupants will inevitably experience discomfort, such as feeling too warm or too cold. In today’s workplaces, where diverse people come together, it is important to move beyond uniform indices like the PMV. Developing a new index that more accurately represents individual thermal sensations is critical to improving well-being for all and creating indoor environments that account for diversity.

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