Outdoor Comfort Responses of Japanese Persons

Abstract

Most of the research on thermal comfort has dealt with indoor situations. Outdoors, people expect different climatic conditions and usually are dressed differently, according to the prevailing weather conditions. In particular, in contrast with indoor conditions, the inhabitants may be exposed to intense solar radiation and to winds, factors that modify greatly their response to the temperature and humidity conditions. The experimental research described in this paper was conducted in Japan by Fujita Corporation. The objective was to study the effect of various design features on the comfort of Japanese persons dressed according to the seasonal climate. The paper presents the methodology of the data analysis and the development of the formula on the basis of the experimental data, and the procedure for evaluating the residual effect of individual climate factors, and discusses probable reasons for the apparent negligible effect of humidity in a hot humid climate.