Evaluation of thermal comfort and occupant satisfaction in office buildings in hot and humid climate regions by means of field surveys

Energy-efficient buildings of the public and commercial sector challenge significantly future infrastructure projects in Brazil. The cooling of buildings is an important contribution to the overall electricity consumption of the country and its continuous growth is motivated mainly by the rising standard of living and working. At the same time, people's requirements on comfort have increased. This paper presents how real occupants in office buildings perceive and assess the higrothermal comfort. Results of the field study are compared towards the requirements in the Brazilian (NBR 16401) and European Standards (EN 15251) in office buildings in hot and humid climate regions.