Investigation of the relationships between thermal sensations of local body areas and the whole body in an indoor built environment

For this study, a series of human subject experiments was conducted with 18 volunteers in an environmental chamber, while thermal conditions changed and thermal sensations were surveyed in the regular way. Seven local body areas were selected, based on current thermoregulation-related literature, and their local body sensations were recorded together. This study revealed that each local body sensation significantly correlated with the overall sensation, but that whole-body sensations varied for each individual body area. In addition, results of this research also suggested optimal combinations of local body areas that could represent the whole-body sensation with a high degree of accuracy.