Interindividual differences of male college students in thermal preference in winter

• Published in: Building and environment Vol. 173; p. 106744
• Main Authors: Wang, Lijuan, Chen, Minzhou, Yang, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 15.04.2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Heart rate; Heat flux; Heat transfer; Human performance; Individual difference; Parameters; Physiological effects; Physiological response; Physiology; Preferences; Questionnaires; Reliability analysis; Skin; Skin temperature; Students; Temperature; Thermal comfort; Thermal preference; Thermal sensation; Reliability analysis; Individual difference; Physiological response; Thermal sensation; Thermal preference
• ISSN: 0360-1323; 1873-684X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106744

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the difference in thermal preferences and their effect on physiological response and thermal sensation. A questionnaire combined with reliability analysis was proposed to divide participants into the following groups: cool preference, neutral preference, and warm preference. Then, 18 participants with different thermal preferences (6 for each thermal preference) were selected from 180 university students based on the proposed questionnaire. Finally, the 18 participants performed human trials in three environments (21 °C, 19 °C, and 17 °C) wherein physiological parameters (core temperature, heart rate, skin temperature, and conductive heat flux), as well as thermal sensation and thermal comfort, were recorded during tests. The results demonstrated that the proposed questionnaire can be used to evaluate thermal preferences. Furthermore, thermal preferences significantly (p < 0.05) affected physiological parameters and thermal sensation. In particular, the participants who preferred cool temperatures had lower mean skin temperature, heart rate, and thermal comfort vote but higher mean conductive heat flux and thermal sensation votes than the warm preferred participants. The rates of the mean skin temperature and core temperature decline in the cool preferred participants were lower than in the warm preferred participants. The findings from this work can provide fundamental knowledge for individual thermal comfort assessment and personalized heating system development. •A questionnaire was proposed to determine thermal preferences.•Group of cool preference (Gcp) resulted in lower mean skin temperature and heart rate.•Group of warm preference (Gwp) reduced thermal comfort in cold environments.•Gcp had higher mean conductive heat flux than Gwp.•Gcp had more stable mean skin and core temperatures than Gwp.