Influence of window and door opening on office room environment and human thermal sensation during different seasons in moderate climate

Natural ventilation is commonly used in buildings because it does not require energy, and its various strategies, for example ventilation through an open window, can improve the indoor environment quality, including the thermal comfort of users. This study aimed to determine accurate environmental parameters typical for naturally ventilated rooms for three seasons: summer, autumn and winter, and to assess the occupants' thermal sensation in the mentioned conditions. Based on the measurements, the spatial distribution and time variability of air temperature and air speed in an office room with a stack natural ventilation system were assessed. The resulting data on the indoor environment parameters at different seasons and with various door and window opening configurations were used as an input to simulate human thermal sensation. Three models were used for simulation: predicted mean vote (PMV), the thermal sensation (TS) model developed by Zhang et al., and the advanced dynamic thermal sensation (DTS) model by Fiala et al., which allowed the demonstration of differences in the thermal comfort assessment depending on the method. Measurements have shown that opening the window with the door closed has a negligible impact on the parameters indoor environment parameters in summer; opening the door (cross-ventilation) changes this situation. The effect increased during autumn and winter, which affects users' thermal sensations. The assessment based on the most popular PMV model differed from the indications of advanced DTS and TS models showing significant discrepancies, which may lead to a misinterpretation of thermal comfort for individuals in the room.