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oai:recercat.cat:2117/4279082026-02-04T07:07:54Zcom_2072_1033col_2072_452950

Investigating students' subjective comfort with window-airing during the cold season: thermal sensation, humidity, air movement, and perceived air quality Miao, Sen Gangolells Solanellas, Marta Tejedor Herrán, Blanca Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Doctorat en Enginyeria de la Construcció Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria de Projectes i de la Construcció Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. GRIC - Grup de Recerca i Innovació de la Construcció Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Edificació::Instal·lacions i acondicionament d'edificis::Instal·lacions de climatització Natural ventilation Thermal comfort Subjective sensation vote Perceived air quality Field experiment Window airing Balancing the need for indoor air quality and thermal comfort during cold seasons is challenging for naturally ventilated schools. For students' health concerns, opening windows to ventilate during class time could be inevitable in winter, especially during flu season. However, there is a lack of field studies investigating its potential impacts on students' comfort. In this context, this study investigated students' subjective comfort with window airing in winter through a field study in the Mediterranean climate, with a total of 34 field experiments with different window opening scenarios conducted in two university classrooms. The study analyzed the effect of thermal sensation, humidity, air movement, and perceived air quality on students' comfort and identified correlated environmental parameters. The results showed that students' comfort was mainly determined by thermal sensation and air movement, while they were not very sensitive to indoor humidity and air quality. Their thermal sensation was found to be directly determined by the indoor temperature and not correlated with the outdoor temperature. Achieving the required ventilation rate would not cause obvious discomfort in terms of air movement. Moreover, the study validated 4 main adaptive PMV models (nPMV, adPMV, arPMV, and epmPMV) and found them to be ineffective with forced window openings. The proposed comfort prediction model suggests that to meet the ventilation rate requirement, the indoor temperature should be maintained above 21¿ to avoid causing thermal discomfort problems. The specific practical recommendations are given in the conclusions. Peer Reviewed Postprint (published version) 2025-06 Article Miao, S.; Gangolells, M.; Tejedor, B. Investigating students' subjective comfort with window-airing during the cold season: thermal sensation, humidity, air movement, and perceived air quality. "Building and environment", Juny 2025, vol. 278, núm. article 112988. 1873-684X https://hdl.handle.net/2117/427908 10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112988 eng https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036013232500469X info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/PID2020-117366RB-I00/ES/ESTRATEGIAS DE VENTILACION OPTIMIZADAS CONSIDERANDO LA CALIDAD DEL AIRE INTERIOR, EL CONFORT TERMICO Y EL CONSUMO DE ENERGIA EN EDIFICIOS EDUCATIVOS / http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Open Access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International application/pdf Elsevier