A study of thermal comfort in residential buildings on the Tibetan Plateau, China

Tibet is located on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in China, the highest and largest plateau in the world. It is in the Cold and Severe Cold zones according to the Chinese climatic division for building design and has unique climatic characteristics and traditional cultural background. In order to obtain a comprehensive understanding about the real indoor thermal environment and the residents' thermal comfort status in Tibet, a field investigation of residential buildings was conducted in the Tibetan Alpine region with on-site environmental parameter measurements and a simultaneous survey using a subjective thermal comfort questionnaire. Based on the analysis of the data collected from the field study, the value of the adaptive coefficient λ in the adaptive thermal comfort model aPMV=PMV1+λPMV suitable to the Tibet area has been obtained as −0.34; and thus the acceptable thermal comfort temperature range for residential buildings in this area has been produced. The research findings provide comprehensive knowledge and a useful reference for the development of a design and evaluation standard for indoor thermal environments in the Tibet region.