The use of adaptive thermal comfort models to evaluate the summer performance of a Mediterranean earth building

• On a retrofitted earth house a summer microclimatic survey is carried out.
• Different adaptive comfort models are applied.
• The ground floor provides thermal comfort without the use of air conditioning.
• The first floor shows a poorer performance.
• The retrofit unaware of bioclimatic traditional strategies is the main cause of it.

In Europe and worldwide several legislations are adopting comfort models that include the variability of occupants behaviour based on the external climate conditions. The latest adaptive comfort methods consider outdoor temperature not only as a steady variable but also as the representation of occupants past thermal history.The paper presented deals with a summer environmental monitoring carried out in a Sardinian earth building. These traditional houses are very often without AC systems and the control of summer conditions is based mainly on natural ventilation. By the use of adaptive comfort model, the different thermal performance between the upper and lower floor of the two storey building are investigated. Different models have been implemented, some included in current technical standards, some other still experimental.The results show the capability of the case-study to provide comfort conditions, but only in the lower floor. The upper floor that traditionally was used as a depository and now hosts the bedrooms shows overheating problems. The change of use, in this case, is the main cause of the bad performance, as highlighted by the microclimatic survey.