Jin Ishii

Effect of the Environmental Stimuli upon the Human Body in Winter Outdoor Thermal Environment

In order to manage the outdoor thermal environment with regard to human health and the environmental impact of waste heat, quantitative evaluations are indispensable. It is necessary to use a thermal environment evaluation index. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between the psychological thermal responses of the human body and winter outdoor thermal environment variables. Subjective experiments were conducted in the winter outdoor environment. Environmental factors and human psychological responses were measured. The relationship between the psychological thermal responses of the human body and the outdoor thermal environment index ETFe (enhanced conduction-corrected modified effective temperature) in winter was shown. The variables which influence the thermal sensation vote of the human body are air temperature, long-wave thermal radiation and short-wave solar radiation. The variables that influence the thermal comfort vote of the human body are air temperature, humidity, short-wave solar radiation, long-wave thermal radiation, and heat conduction. Short-wave solar radiation, and heat conduction are among the winter outdoor thermal environment variables that affect psychological responses to heat. The use of thermal environment evaluation indices that comprise short-wave solar radiation and heat conduction in winter outdoor spaces is a valid approach.

Refuge behaviour from outdoor thermal environmental stress and seasonal differences of thermal sense in tropical urban climate

Thermal sensation affects body temperature regulation. As a starting point for behavioral body temperature regulation taken to improve from a poor thermal environment to a more pleasant environment, thermal sense of thermal environment stimulus is important. The poupose of this sutudy is to use the outdoor thermal environment evaluation index ETFe to quantify effects on thermal sensations of the human body of a tropical region climate with small annual temperature differences, and to examine seasonal differences in thermal sensation. It was found temperature preferences were lower in the winter season than in the dry season, and that a tolerance for higher temperatures in the dry season than in the winter season. It was found effects of seasonal differences of the thermal environment appear in quantitative changes in thermal sensations. It was found that effects of seasonal differences of the thermal environment do not greatly affect quantitative changes in thermal comfort.