A study on the thermal comfort and clothing insulation characteristics of preschool children in Korea

Insick Nam, Jinho Yang, Dohee Lee, Eunjung Park, Jong Ryeul Sohn

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    80 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The present study was intended to examine thermal comfort in kindergartens for children aged 4-6 years (preschool children). Centering on Seoul, Korea, thermal comfort characteristics of kindergartens in four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter) from June 2013 to May 2014 were evaluated. Indoor/outdoor dry-bulb temperatures, relative humidity, air-flow speed, and globe temperatures. The number of kindergartens included in the study were 19, 29, 21 and 16 during spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. The study results were derived through a questionnaire survey on TSV (thermal sensation votes) and metabolism conducted with 994 respondents. The relationships between children's clothing insulation and 4-day weighted mean ambient temperatures, operative temperatures, and outdoor temperatures were evaluated and the results indicated that the amount of clothing was changed the most by operative temperatures. The seasonal mean amounts of clothing were 0.29clo in summer and 0.81clo in winter, which were smaller than the amount of clothing of adults presented by ASHRAE. The seasonal amounts of clothing for male and female children differed from each other. In addition, children's comfortable temperatures were identified as being lower than those of adults by approximately 0.5°C in the summer and by approximately 3.3°C in the winter, indicating that children have different thermal awareness from adults.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)724-733
    Number of pages10
    JournalBuilding and Environment
    Volume92
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2015 Oct 1

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This subject is supported by Korea Ministry of Environment as “The Environmental Health Action Program”.

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.

    Copyright:
    Copyright 2015 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

    Keywords

    • Clothing insulation
    • Kindergarten classroom
    • Preschool children
    • Seasons
    • Thermal comfort

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Environmental Engineering
    • Civil and Structural Engineering
    • Geography, Planning and Development
    • Building and Construction

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