Subject Assessment of Thermal Transition in a Museum: a Case Study

Abstract

Thermal sensation and comfort evaluation schemes typically address thermally adapted people under static circumstances. A disregard of thermal evaluation processes pertaining to transitional states may result in inappropriate temperature settings, inefficient thermal control, and poor thermal comfort. Thus, recently studies have been carried out, which consider thermal perception under dynamic (transitional) conditions. This paper represents an example of such a study. It investigates people's subjective thermal sensation assessment immediately after a spatial transition, i.e., entering or exiting a building or moving between different spaces within a building. Field experiments were conducted in the Museum of Art History (Kunsthistorisches Museum) in Vienna, Austria. Multiple groups of participants moved through a predefined route throughout the building. This route involved five spatial transitions. Immediately after each transition, the participants expressed their thermal sensation vote (TSV) via a questionnaire. Participants' responses were analyzed in the context of monitored temperature differences between the spaces along the participants' route through the building.