Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Thermal Comfort Sensation of Pupils in School Establishments under Hot Arid Climate Conditions

Abstract

School establishments have been considered the foundation of various civilizations, due to the importance of the educational process in producing future generations and shaping healthy societies. This paper aims to evaluate the thermal comfort sensation of pupils in school buildings under hostile climatic conditions in hot arid regions. The study employed the use of the post-occupancy approach with subjective assessments through questionnaires and physical measurements of the environmental physical parameters of thermal comfort: temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity as objective assessments. These measurements were in parallel with survey questionnaires that were undertaken during regular class sessions covering the hot and cold conditions of a school year, polling responses from 281 participants on their perception of the indoor climate. Finger's comfort indicators are calculated (PMV, predicted mean vote; and PPD, predicted percentage of dissatisfied people); and the actual people's clothing and metabolic rate are estimated in order to conclude the prevailing indoor thermal conditions. The investigations were carried out on three samples of school buildings in Biskra (Algeria) of different architectural styles. The study’s results revealed that the levels of temperature were the most crucial parameter that influenced the thermal sensation with an average of 35C° with a PMV of 2.48, and 15C° in winter with a PMV of -2.56, indicating more than 90% dissatisfaction. Therefore, a well-thought bioclimatic school design is needed to ensure acceptable indoors, and promote healthy and safe learning spaces, by adopting sustainable design principles and low-energy-consuming techniques.

Assessment of building design and overheating on occupants’ thermal comfort and energy performance considering self-build houses in a hot arid urban environment

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External envelope impact on thermal environment of heritage buildings from the colonial period in hot arid area

“…However, the indoor air temperature remains outside the thermal comfort limits, which range between 21 and 25 °C, and this is particular to the hot arid areas such as the city of Biskra. In order to reach the limits of thermal comfort within the inhabited space, many elements must be involved, among which, the most important the users post-occupancy comfort of the inhabited space (Mansouri et al, 2022), as the indoor space is ventilated in relatively cold times at night, as well as reducing the internal thermal loads such as active electrical devices.…”