jaue2021-065: Review on indoor thermal comfort of AC system and natural ventilation in the university classroom

Abstract

Indoor thermal comfort in classrooms is essential for students’ health and learning performance. Air Conditioning
(AC) unit system is normally used in summer season to control indoor thermal comfort. Yet continuous use results
in high energy consumption on campus. Advocating to the global environment and energy consumption issues, this
study aims to review indoor thermal comfort in classroom with two different ventilation and cooling method: with
cooling system and with natural ventilation whether both methods have significant differences. In this study, the
indoor thermal comfort surveys and parameter measurements conducted in summer season 2018 and 2021 in The
University of Kitakyushu. The method used in this study is by distributing questionnaires to students and by air
temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity, globe temperature, and PMV measurements. The empirical findings
which compared questionnaires and measurement results are discussed. Estimation of WBGT is also calculated in
both cooling system and natural ventilation to review the heat stress index in the classroom. The research results are
expected to become useful for energy saving implementation in educational buildings and/or for ventilation method
reference for indoor thermal comfort in the university classrooms.