Thermal Comfort

Welcome to Thermal Comfort! This course is one of the 7 courses in the training program Energy Efficient and Climate Responsive Building Envelope Design, developed specifically for building design professionals and trainers. In Thermal Comfort, we will understand the impact of understanding thermal comfort in sustainable architecture.

Course overview

The course is composed of 4 lessons:

1. Introduction to Thermal Comfort. This lesson explains the different types of human comforts and the heat exchange processes of the human body to help you define comfort zone and its variables.
2. Variables and Measurements. This lesson provides us with a definition of thermal comfort, identify the variables of thermal comfort, and introduce us to the tools used to determine these variables for you to gain a deeper understanding of the different gradations of thermal comfort and analyse how a certain place is within the comfort zone at a certain time.
3. Thermal Comfort Indices. This lesson introduces a few indices commonly used to set the standards for thermal comfort and discuss how such indices can be used to evaluate thermal comfort, determine whether a particular space is within a comfort zone, and identify strategies to influence environmental conditions such that the space is thermally comfortable.
4. Post Occupancy Evaluation of Thermal Comfort – Case Study. A further understanding on the use of variables, tools, and indices are provided in this lesson where a case study demonstrates how a post occupancy evaluation may be conducted to determine whether a given space is thermally comfortable even as energy consumption is minimized with the use of innovative design.

Certification

Each section of the course has a short quiz after it. You don’t need to complete the quiz to progress to the next lesson, but if you do, and pass all the quizzes, you’ll get a certificate of achievement on course completion, and be issued with a digital badge that you can put on your Linkedin profile or elsewhere.

Before you start the first lesson read this to get the most from the course

Before you start, spend a few moments jotting down exactly what you want to learn, and focus on that. Don’t feel you need to complete each lesson. To make it easy to do this, each lesson has a summary at the start of each section which you can skim through and decide if that lesson is for you. 

In some lessons you may be asked to write your thoughts in the comment box below the lesson. Please do this to get the most from the lesson, and you might see some interesting comments from other students too. 

You may also find it easier to watch the videos at a faster speed. Its easy to adjust the speed in the video player, press on the gear icon in the player then select the speed you want to play it at.

The course may have subtitles in English and other languages. If you wish you can view these subtitles by pressing the CC button

If there is something you are unsure about, or if you have a question, please put your request in the comment box.

Enjoy your course!

Competencies expected to gain

• Definition and variables of thermal comfort
• Tools for measurement of thermal comfort
• Indices used to determine thermal comfort
• Evaluation of thermal comfort