Influence of Air Movement and Air Humidity on Thermal Comfort in Office Buildings in Florianópolis, Brazil

Thermal comfort presents high importance for user satisfaction and performance, as well as high potential for energy savings. Two relevant factors to be considered in thermal comfort analyses are air movement and air humidity, as they may enable expansion of the acceptable limits of air temperature. Based on this, this study was carried out to investigate the influence of air velocity and air humidity on users’ thermal comfort in office buildings located in the humid subtropical climate of Florianópolis, southern Brazil. Using field data collected in one building with a central air-conditioning system and two mixed-mode buildings, statistical analyses were performed considering environmental variables and users subjective responses obtained by means of an electronic questionnaire. The results did not show a direct influence of air velocity and air humidity on users’ thermal comfort, but a significant relationship between thermal comfort and both the perception of air movement and air humidity was verified. Therefore, it was found that air velocity and air humidity have an indirect influence on thermal comfort