TY - JOUR
T1 - The influence of socioeconomic context on the thermal comfort of university students in a humid subtropical climate
AU - Custódio, Diego Antônio
AU - Ghisi, Enedir
AU - Forgiarini Rupp, Ricardo
AU - Lodete Bilésimo, Thayane
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Classrooms are environments occupied by people with different thermal preferences and with different social and economic realities. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the socioeconomic context on the thermal comfort of university students in classrooms. In this study, the socioeconomic context of the students was evaluated based on four categorical variables: per capita income range, paid work status, undergraduate course, and ethnicity. The study was conducted between October 2022 and July 2023 and had the participation of 2,034 students from two universities located in a humid subtropical climate in southern Brazil. During the field study, environmental variables were measured using a microclimatic station, while personal variables were obtained through student responses in electronic questionnaires. The analyses were performed for two modes of operation of the classrooms: natural ventilation and use of air-conditioning. In both cases, a statistically significant difference was observed when evaluating the thermal sensation for females and males, in which the mean thermal neutrality temperature of female students was higher than that of males. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the students’ thermal sensation votes when considering different socioeconomic contexts.
AB - Classrooms are environments occupied by people with different thermal preferences and with different social and economic realities. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the socioeconomic context on the thermal comfort of university students in classrooms. In this study, the socioeconomic context of the students was evaluated based on four categorical variables: per capita income range, paid work status, undergraduate course, and ethnicity. The study was conducted between October 2022 and July 2023 and had the participation of 2,034 students from two universities located in a humid subtropical climate in southern Brazil. During the field study, environmental variables were measured using a microclimatic station, while personal variables were obtained through student responses in electronic questionnaires. The analyses were performed for two modes of operation of the classrooms: natural ventilation and use of air-conditioning. In both cases, a statistically significant difference was observed when evaluating the thermal sensation for females and males, in which the mean thermal neutrality temperature of female students was higher than that of males. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the students’ thermal sensation votes when considering different socioeconomic contexts.
KW - Thermal comfort
KW - Classrooms
KW - Universities
KW - Operative temperature
U2 - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114556
DO - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114556
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0378-7788
VL - 319
JO - Energy and Buildings
JF - Energy and Buildings
M1 - 114556
ER -