Comfort zone of air speeds and temperatures for air-conditioned environment in the subtropical Hong Kong

In a centralised HVAC system, the refrigeration system would consume less energy if the chilled water supply temperature could be elevated. The room air temperature could be raised, but the thermal comfort could be maintained by increasing the air speed without annoyance. In order to study the influence of acclimatisation in a subtropical climate and expectation of an air-conditioned environment for people in Hong Kong, a thermal comfort survey was carried out. In this study, 203 human subjects aged 19-50 participated. A thermal sensation model was then developed, and a 90% comfort zone for the air speeds at different temperatures established. The results of this study were also compared with the comfort zone derived by the predicted mean vote (PMV). It was found that the PMV model did not give an effective reflection of the thermal sensation reported by people in Hong Kong. © 2010 SAGE Publications.