Effect of Transient Changes of Air Temperature on Subjective Response of Office Worker in Tropical Country (Case Study: Jakarta, Indonesia)
Abstract
Moderately cold indoor air temperature among offices in hot–humid country caused a sudden change of experienced air temperature when worker went out for a short time and returned to a moderately cold office. Thought that extreme changes of air temperature induced disruption for body thermoregulation and reduced thermal comfort. Current study aimed to investigate thermal comfort and perceived arousal toward mild transient change of air temperature in two actual offices with airconditioning system in Jakarta, Indonesia. Participants in each office were grouped into workers who experienced transient state of temperature (TS) and workers who stayed indoor and experienced only steady-state conditions (SS). Thermal conditions
surrounding 16 transient state participants were recorded at 5-minutes intervals using data logger from 10:00 to 17:00. Transient state participants went out and were exposed to outdoor temperature for approximately 1 hour at lunch time. The difference of mean air temperature between indoor and outdoor reached 8.49∘C and
4.50∘C for office A and B, respectively. Subjective votes indicating thermal sensation, thermal comfort, thermal satisfaction, alertness, freshness, and concentration were obtained from the total of 43 participants. Significant negative correlation found between changes of temperature and thermal sensation, thermal comfort, but not on thermal satisfaction. A tendency of decreased alertness, freshness, and concentration were observed among transient state participants of Office A, but was not observed in steady state participant of Office A and in both subject groups in Office B. These findings suggest that transient change of air temperature would lower arousal level in a more extreme temperature change.
Keywords: transient change temperature, arousal, workplace, subjective vote
References
[1] Cui, W., Cao, G., Park, J. H., ey al. (2013). Influence of indoor air temperature on human thermal comfort, motivation and performance. Building and Environment, vol. 68, pp. 114–122.
[2] Maula, V., Hongisto, L., Östman, A., et al. (2016). The effect of slightly warm temperature on work performance and comfort in open-plan offices - A laboratory study. Indoor Air, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 286–297.
[3] Sellaro, R., Hommel, B., Manaï, M., et al. (2015). Preferred, but not objective temperature predicts working memory depletion. Psychological Research, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 282–288.
[4] Haymes, E M. and Well, C. L. (1986). Environment and Human Performance. Illionis: Human Kinetics Publishers.
[5] Badan Standardisasi Nasional (BSN). (2011). SNI 6390:2011 Konservasi Energi Sistem Tata Udara Bangunan Gedung. BSN, Jakarta, Indonesia.
[6] Damiati, S. A., Zaki, S. A., Rijal, H. B., et al. (2016). Field study on adaptive thermal comfort in office buildings in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Japan during hot and humid season. Building Environment, vol. 109, pp. 208–223.
[7] Karyono, T. (2015).Predicting comfort temperature in Indonesia, an initial step to reduce cooling energy consumption. Buildings, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 802–813.
[8] Xiong, J., Lian, Z., Zhou, X., et al. (2015). Investigation of gender difference in human response to temperature step changes. Physiology & Behavior, vol. 151, pp. 426– 440.
[9] ASHRAE. 2010. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2010: Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy, in American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and AirConditioning, Inc. Atlanta.
[10] Parsons, K. (2014). Human Thermal Environments: The Effects of Hot, Moderate, and Cold Environments on Human Health, Comfort, and Performance (third edition).
[11] Du, X., Li, B., Liu, H., et al. (2014). The Response of human thermal sensation and its prediction to temperature step-change (cool-neutral- cool). PLoS One, vol. 9, no. 8, pp. 1–10.
[12] Hancock, P. A. and Vasmatzidis, I. (2003). Effects of heat stress on cognitive performance: The current state of knowledge. International Journal of Hyperthermia, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 355–372.
[13] Zhou, H., Jia, M., Liu, B., et al. (2017). Thermal sensation in transient conditions at subway stations during the winter. International Journal of Heat and Technology, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 371–377.