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The Adaptive Model of Thermal Comfort :
Macquarie University's ASHRAE RP-884 Project

Introduction to the Project

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE Inc.) commissioned Dr Richard de Dear of Macquarie University to develop and adaptive model of thermal comfort during 1995-1997. Dr Gail Brager of CEDR, University of California at Berkeley collaborated on this project.
This is the project's homepage.

The Adaptive Model Concept

The human body maintains thermal equilibrium with its environment by means of phsyiological thermoregulation (sweating, shivering etc). Beyond these automatic processes, there is a suite of adaptive responses which enable building occupants to adapt to indoor and outdoor climates by means of behavioral adjustments ((clothing, windows, fans etc), physiological adaptations (acclimatisation), and psychological adjustments (expectations). Click this link to see a schematic describing the adaptive model concept and how it relates to energy consumption in buildings.

The ASHRAE RP-884 Database

A grand total of about 22,000 sets of data have been included inthe RP-884 database at the time of writing. Click this link to go to the RP-884 Adaptive Model Database Downloader. There you'll be able to obtain copies of the raw data files that constitute this database. But before attempting to use this tool you should read through (and print a copy of) the following points carefully.

• Data Assimilation: The processes of data acquisition and assimilation into the RP-884 database are explained in the following flow chart.
  
  
• Contents and Structure of the data Files: Each of the individual files has a standard structure, with each row representing a response (questionnaire, indoor climatic measurements, clo and met, comfort indices etc). Click this link to see the "codebook" which describes the varaibles' names, their units of measurement and the various coding conventions adopted throughout the database. This information should be printed.
  
  
• Project Summaries: The "data downloader" will appear in you net browser as a clickable table. The column entitled "Researchers and Publications" is linked to short descriptions of the buildings, locations, samples, instruments and procedures used in each field research project as well as some citations so you you can read more about the original research. This information should be printed.
  
  
• Location and Climate Zone: The "data downloader"contains information on the geographic location and the climate zone for each of the data files in the RP-884 database.
  
  
• Digital File Format: The most important decision you have to make when using the RP-884 "data downloader" is what format you want the data files delivered in. Data can be downloaded in EXCEL 5 spreadsheets, LOTUS 123 spreadsheets, ASCII data files and other formats. N.B. To conserve precious bandwidth on the INTERNET and also your time, you are strongly encouraged to select the compressed versions of these files. i.e. For DOS/WIN machines, you should select the "ZIP" versions which are self-extracting zip files. They'll arrive at your PC with .exe extensions, so all you have to do is execute (run) them at the DOS prompt and they'll inflate themselves back to their much larger native format (EXCEL or LOTUS spreadsheet, or raw ASCII files). If you want to use these files on a MAC, you have to select the ASCII CSV (Comma Separated Values). If you intend using the files on a UNIX platform, please select the ASCII CSV (unix.z) format and use the UNIX "uncompress" command to get them back to their original size.
  
  

• The SUBMIT button: Once you have selected your preferred file format, you simply click the SUBMIT button and the file transfer will be initiated. The time required for transmission from this machine in Sydney to you machine basically depends on your modem speed and also the volume of traffic on the internet at the time of your request. Sorry if the transfer is slow, but these factors are beyond our control.
  
  
• Acknowledgments: If you intend using the research data contained in this database, please ensure that you give appropriate acknowledgment to the original field researchers (see project summaries for citation details).  Please also acknowledge Richard de Dear for assembling, cleaning and standardising the database, and making it available on the WWW with financial support from ASHRAE Inc. This paper, ASHRAE Transactions  describes the database and should be cited:
  de Dear, R.J. (1998) "A global database of thermal comfort field experiments," ASHRAE Trans, V.104(1)
  This web site may be acknowledged by reference to the URL details printed in the footer below.
  

Results from the ASHRAE RP-884 Adaptive Model Project

• Preliminary results from the adaptive model project have been formatted as a series of linked WWW pages which you can read by clicking here.   More detailed results and interpretations can be found in the RP-884 ASHRAE Technical Paper:
  
  
  de Dear R.J. and G.Schiller Brager (1998) “Developing an adaptive model of thermal comfort and preference,” ASHRAE Trans., V.104(1a), pp.145-167. Reprinted in Schiller Brager, G. (ed.) (1998) Field Studies of Thermal Comfort and Adaptation - ASHRAE Technical Data Bulletin, V.14(1). pp. 27-49.
  
  de Dear, R.J. (1998) “A global database of thermal comfort field experiments,” ASHRAE Transactions., V.104(1b), pp.1141-1152. Reprinted in Schiller Brager, G (ed.) (1998) Field Studies of Thermal Comfort and Adaptation - ASHRAE Technical Data Bulletin, V.14(1). pp. 15-26.
  
  Schiller Brager, G. and R. de Dear (2000) "A standard for natural ventilation." ASHRAE Journal. V.42(10), pp.21-27.
  
  Brager, G.S. and de Dear, R.J. (1998) “Thermal adaptation in the built environment: A literature review,” Energy and Buildings, V.27(1), pp.83-96.
  
  

• You may also be interested in downloading the full PDF version of the Final Report (ca 1.8Mb) on this project by clicking here

Go to the RP-884 Adaptive Model Database Downloader.

While you are here you may wish to visit the WWW Thermal Comfort Index Calculator

The calculator was programmed in JavaScript from the original sourcecode supplied in the ISO7730 Standard and also the software by Fountain and Huizenga, 1996 (WinComf). It calculates clo values, PMV, PPD, ET*, SET*, DISC, COMF, PD etc.

If you are interested in things related to indoor climate and thermal comfort, you may wish to subscribe to the COMFORTZONE email list (it's free). To do so, simply send an email to this address:

Majordomo@penman.es.mq.edu.au

and include this simple message (and nothing else) in the body:

You will then automatically receive a file describing the scope of the discussion group and how to post messages to it.

Comments to author: rdedear@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au
All contents copyright (C) 1996. Macquarie University. All rights reserved.
Revised: 9 February, 2001
URL http://atmos.es.mq.edu.au/~rdedear/ashrae_rp884_home.html