Thermal comfort in school children: Testing the validity of the Fanger method for a Mediterranean climate

Abstract

Thermal comfort is an essential factor when designing or refurbishing schools because it helps to improve wellbeing and academic performance. However, little attention has been paid to assessing the thermal comfort level of children. Previous studies on thermal comfort have mainly focused on adults' perceptions, extrapolating their results to all ages without cross-checking them for relevance. The aim of this research was to determine whether children perceive temperature in a similar way to adults and if their thermal comfort limits are the same. A school in south-eastern Spain was selected as the case study. Thermal comfort surveys of children were conducted and compared with analytical calculations obtained using the Fanger method. The results showed that the Fanger method was not valid for the estimation of children's thermal comfort, especially in girls and younger children. The novelty of this research demonstrates that children have specific thermal comfort requirements that are not covered by current standards and calculation methods, such as the Fanger method. Analysis also determined the correction coefficients necessary for adapting Fanger's analytical method to children according to age and gender in BShs climate.