Investigating the relationship of outdoor heat stress upon indoor thermal comfort and qualitative self-sleep evaluation: the case of Ankara
Author(s)
Advisor
Nouri, Andre SantosDate
2022-06Publisher
Bilkent University
Language
English
Type
ThesisItem Usage Stats
126
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Abstract
Recently, the necessity of exploring the relationship between sleep quality and the
thermal environment has amplified regarding increasing heat stress risk on the
human body due to climate change, particularly in vulnerable-uninsulated buildings
of Ankara. Within this scope, this study investigated occupants’ sleep quality and
thermal comfort in insulated and uninsulated buildings under three local extreme heat
event thresholds: (1) typical summer day (TSD25), (2) very hot day (VHD33), and
lastly, (3) heat wave event (HWE31). Within a two-tiered approach to thermal
comfort evaluations, the physiological thermal comfort of occupants was identified
through the calculation of Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) from the
climatic data of local meteorological stations. On the other hand, the psychological
thermal comfort and sleep quality of participants were evaluated by questionnaires
during each heat event. The results of this study demonstrated that PETOut reached
43.5 °C, which indicates the extreme heat stress within PS grades during the VHD33s.
The PET values were consistently higher in uninsulated buildings than in insulated
buildings. Also, most of the mean psychological thermal comfort votes (TCVs) and
sleep quality votes (SQVs) were better in uninsulated buildings than in insulated ones during TSD25 and HWE31s, while it was the opposite within extreme conditions of VHD33s. The outputs of this study contribute to interdisciplinary efforts to
attenuate the existing and impending risks of climate change on human life by
defining the influence of increasing outdoor heat stress on indoor spaces, thermal
comfort, and the sleep quality of occupants.