The feeling of comfort in residential settings II: a quantitative model
Building science has historically used quantitative methods to study comfort. Yet, these methods struggle to consider non-quantifiable factors that are sometimes relevant in the determination of people’s comfort. The first article in this series argued that complementing quantitative methods with qu...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ubiquity Press
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Buildings & Cities |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://account.journal-buildingscities.org/index.php/up-j-bc/article/view/323 |
| _version_ | 1797748835240378368 |
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| author | German Molina Michael Donn Micael-Lee Johnstone Casimir MacGregor |
| author_facet | German Molina Michael Donn Micael-Lee Johnstone Casimir MacGregor |
| author_sort | German Molina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Building science has historically used quantitative methods to study comfort. Yet, these methods struggle to consider non-quantifiable factors that are sometimes relevant in the determination of people’s comfort. The first article in this series argued that complementing quantitative methods with qualitative ones can help mitigate this limitation. A new model of comfort for residential environments is proposed—the feeling of comfort model—which is not constrained by the need to be quantifiable. Such a model offered new (although not final) insights into what comfort is, how it develops, and how it varies between individuals and groups of them. How can building performance simulations benefit from these qualitative insights? This question is explored by representing the feeling of comfort model mathematically and incorporating it into a building performance simulation program. Although an unvalidated proof of concept, the results from the simulation emulated some of the phenomena that current models struggle with. Insights produced by qualitative research can help develop quantitative methods and simulations that account for human cognition and psychology. Practice relevance A qualitative model of comfort (developed from a set of interviews) is translated into a quantitative model of comfort that incorporates aspects of cognition and human psychology. This model can reproduce some phenomena that are currently impossible to simulate (e.g. the beneficial effect of inhabitants’ perception of agency and control). The insights produced by qualitative methods hold the promise of developing comfort models that can account for human psychology and cognition. Although qualitative methods are not meant to replace quantitative ones, the value is their exploratory nature, which can help to understand phenomena that can later be represented in quantitative terms. Any model developed using qualitative insights will require validation, calibration and tuning. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:11:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-85738255ad9a4fcc9c1a076536a219bb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2632-6655 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:11:31Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings & Cities |
| spelling | doaj.art-85738255ad9a4fcc9c1a076536a219bb2023-08-09T13:41:59ZengUbiquity PressBuildings & Cities2632-66552023-07-0141441–456441–45610.5334/bc.323132The feeling of comfort in residential settings II: a quantitative modelGerman Molina0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7853-0077Michael Donn1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4716-4286Micael-Lee Johnstone2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6270-1441Casimir MacGregor3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5842-0807Center for Sustainable Urban Design (CEDEUS), Santiago, RM, 7530091School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington, WellingtonSchool of Marketing & International Business, Victoria University of Wellington, WellingtonBuilding Research Association New Zealand (BRANZ), WellingtonBuilding science has historically used quantitative methods to study comfort. Yet, these methods struggle to consider non-quantifiable factors that are sometimes relevant in the determination of people’s comfort. The first article in this series argued that complementing quantitative methods with qualitative ones can help mitigate this limitation. A new model of comfort for residential environments is proposed—the feeling of comfort model—which is not constrained by the need to be quantifiable. Such a model offered new (although not final) insights into what comfort is, how it develops, and how it varies between individuals and groups of them. How can building performance simulations benefit from these qualitative insights? This question is explored by representing the feeling of comfort model mathematically and incorporating it into a building performance simulation program. Although an unvalidated proof of concept, the results from the simulation emulated some of the phenomena that current models struggle with. Insights produced by qualitative research can help develop quantitative methods and simulations that account for human cognition and psychology. Practice relevance A qualitative model of comfort (developed from a set of interviews) is translated into a quantitative model of comfort that incorporates aspects of cognition and human psychology. This model can reproduce some phenomena that are currently impossible to simulate (e.g. the beneficial effect of inhabitants’ perception of agency and control). The insights produced by qualitative methods hold the promise of developing comfort models that can account for human psychology and cognition. Although qualitative methods are not meant to replace quantitative ones, the value is their exploratory nature, which can help to understand phenomena that can later be represented in quantitative terms. Any model developed using qualitative insights will require validation, calibration and tuning.https://account.journal-buildingscities.org/index.php/up-j-bc/article/view/323agencycomfortindoor environmental qualityinhabitantsmodelresidentialthermal comfortthermal perceptionsimulation |
| spellingShingle | German Molina Michael Donn Micael-Lee Johnstone Casimir MacGregor The feeling of comfort in residential settings II: a quantitative model Buildings & Cities agency comfort indoor environmental quality inhabitants model residential thermal comfort thermal perception simulation |
| title | The feeling of comfort in residential settings II: a quantitative model |
| title_full | The feeling of comfort in residential settings II: a quantitative model |
| title_fullStr | The feeling of comfort in residential settings II: a quantitative model |
| title_full_unstemmed | The feeling of comfort in residential settings II: a quantitative model |
| title_short | The feeling of comfort in residential settings II: a quantitative model |
| title_sort | feeling of comfort in residential settings ii a quantitative model |
| topic | agency comfort indoor environmental quality inhabitants model residential thermal comfort thermal perception simulation |
| url | https://account.journal-buildingscities.org/index.php/up-j-bc/article/view/323 |
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