Thermal Comfort and Occupant Behaviour in a Naturally Ventilated Hostel in Warm-Humid Climate of Ile-Ife, Nigeria: Field Study Report during Hot Season

Olanipekun Emmanuel Abiodun

Volume 14 Issue 4

Global Journal of Human-Social Science

Naturally ventilated buildings have been observed tobeineffectiveinwarm-humidtropicalespeciallyduringhotseason.Toascertainingthisobservation,thisstudypresentsthe results of a short-term thermal comfort survey performed inanaturallyventilatedhostelbuildinginObafemiAwolowoUniversity,Ile-Ife,Nigeriaduringhotseason.Usingthedataobtainedfromquestionnairesurveyandphysicalmeasurementof(airtemperature,relativehumidityandairvelocity)usingKestrelmodel4500,thermalenvironmentalconditions,occupantcomfortandadaptationmethodswereinvestigatedconsideringclassIIprotocol.Ninetysixrespondentsparticipatedinthestudy.Statisticalanalysisofstudents`responsesandmeasuredthermalenvironmentalvariableswasperformedtodetermineexistingindoorenvironmentalconditionsandpriorityofusingadaptivecontrols.Allthemeasuredenvironmentalvariablesfellbelowthe comfort range recommended by ASHRAE standard 55 andISO7730standard.Onthecontrary,respondentswerecomfortable,preferringcooler,nochangeenvironmentsandmoreairmovement.Firstpreferenceoftherespondentsadaptivecontrolwaswindowopening(77.4%),closelyfollowed by wearing light clothes (77.3%) and lastly, the use ofelectric fans. This study concludes that in warm-humid climateofIle-Ife,duringthehotseasonthedesireforsustainablethermalcomfortmaynotbeachievedwithoutmechanicalventilation system.