Certain personal and environmental factors as predictors of thermal sensation perceived by a population of students in a university setting from Timisoara, Romania: a case study
Petrescu Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
Certain personal and environmental factors as predictors of thermal sensation perceived by a population of students in a university setting from Timisoara, Romania: a case study
Cristina I. Petrescu 0 1
0 Sabinei 3A/18 , 300424 Timisoara , Romania
1 Department of Hygiene, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Timisoara , Victor Babes 16, 300226 Timisoara , Romania
Background: The aim of the performed study was to investigate personal and environmental factors as predictors of thermal sensation perceived by a population of students in a university setting. Methods: The study consisted of two samples, a winter sample (154 students: 44.2% males and 55.8% females, aged 19-30 years) and a spring sample (147 students: 52.4% males and 47.6% females, aged 19-30 years), randomly selected from the same population of students. The method was an observational inquiry (case study) with a standardized questionnaire (11 items, 3 items for thermal sensation assessing through 3 scales with 3, 5 and 7 steps, alpha Cronbach's index 0.854) applied and establishing 3 microclimate factors (air temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity), with calculation of normal effective temperature. The survey was performed over four successive days, during two seasons (winter-February and spring-May). Results: The performed study demonstrated a tendency of students to perceive the comfortably cold more frequently than comfortably warm throughout the 4 days of the survey during the winter, except Monday. Thermal sensation of discomfort was more frequently perceived as warm than cold throughout the spring time of the survey and winter, except Tuesday. Predictors of thermal sensation perceived by students in the amphitheatre were as follows: nationality (−2loglikelihood change or chi square = 42.12, Sig. 0.000), relative humidity (chi square = 10.65, Sig. 0.005) and gender during the winter, and wind velocity (change in −2loglikelihood = 11.96, Sig. 0.001) and nationality during the spring. Conclusions: Certain personal and environmental factors were suggested as predictors for thermal sensation perceived by a population of students in a study setting.
Thermal sensation; Students; University; Personal and environmental factors; Case study
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Background
Environmental and individual factors interact and
determine a great variation of thermal sensation perception.
Recent research performed in the area indicated how
environmental factors intervene in heat exchange between
whole body [1] and environment through physiological
equivalent temperature (PET) [2], predicted mean vote
(PMV) [3], actual sensation vote (ASV) and Universal
Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) [4, 5] estimation of
thermal sensation in investigated people. Normal effective
temperature (NET) calculation was improved by Li and
Chen, in 2000 [5, 6].
A gap of knowledge is registered in eastern European
countries regarding microclimate factors related to
thermal sensation perceived in study settings with classical
architecture combined with modern means (PVC
windows) to save energy. Climate changes worsen the
existent situation through the great variation of
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meteorological conditions and through exhaustion of
man’s mechanisms of adaptation. Assessment of the
thermal sensation perceived by students in a study
setting and of the factors (environmental and personal)
which could modify it, offers the possibility to improve
microclimate conditions and to assure thermal comfort
of the students. The aim of the conducted study was to
investigate personal and environmental factors as
predictors of thermal sensation perceived by a population of
students in a university setting, classically built and
naturally ventilated, from Timisoara, in two seasons, winter
and spring.
Methods
The study was performed on two different samples of
Romanian and English language students selected
through random sampling: a winter sample of 154
students (44.2% males and 55.8% females, aged 19–30 years)
and a spring sample of 147 students (52.4% males and
47.6% females, aged 19–30 years) from the same
population of students (second year of study). The informed
consent of each student to participate in the study was
asked for and obtained.
The study setting was an amphitheatre (140-m2 plane
surface, 14-m length and 10-m width, 6-m height, 143
p (...truncated)