Characteristics of thermal comfort in the offices of North-East India

Abstract

In the context of climate change and global warming, the nexus between energy and buildings is self-explanatory. As per the ministry of statistics and program implementation, Govt. of India data, the primary energy consumption in the building sector is 37% of total primary energy consumption and about 24% to total CO2 emissions. It is evident from the research that thermal comfort, energy efficiency in buildings and sustainable architecture are interlinked and interdependent. The present study is carried out in the Naturally ventilated offices of North-East India at three representative locations i.e., Tezpur, Imphal and Shillong, from warm and humid, Cool and humid and Cold and cloudy climates, respectively. Year-long thermal comfort surveys were carried out in 81 naturally ventilated office buildings, collecting 2326 samples spread over three locations from July 2016 to June 2017. Data analysis shows that neutral temperature through regression analysis is 26.4°C, 24.7°C, and 23.4°C for Tezpur, Imphal and Shillong, respectively. Preferred temperature and relative humidity in Tezpur, Imphal and Shillong offices are 24°C, 23.5 °C and 22 °C and 55%, 55% and 63%, respectively. Probit analysis showed that occupants are more adaptive toward the warmer side of the thermal sensation scale.