Field Study to Compare and Evaluate Summer Thermal Comfort of School Buildings with Different Moderate Thermal Mass in Their Building Elements

Abstract

Previous studies show that moderate thermal mass in school building elements can positively impact the winter indoor thermal environment in a temperate climate with mild, humid winters. Based on a field study, this research contributes new physical data of the summer indoor thermal environment of Auckland school buildings with different designs of moderate thermal mass in their building elements to add to the previous winter field-study data and demonstrates that a school building with moderate thermal mass is adequate in a temperate climate with mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers. This field study compared and evaluated the summer indoor thermal environment of classrooms with different moderate thermal mass in their building elements during the summer school term and the summer school holidays. This study found that a classroom with thermal mass in its building elements has 19% to 21% more time in summer than a classroom without any thermal mass in its building elements when indoor air temperatures are within the thermal comfort zone, which was solely impacted by the building’s thermal performance. This study established a suitable research method to analyse the field-study data and identify the differences in the indoor thermal environments of the school buildings with different designs of moderate thermal mass in their building elements.