Open AccessA first theoretical comparison between current and future indoor thermal comfort conditions, in Greece, as a result of the greenhouse effect
Author(s) -
Nikolakis D. J.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
meteorological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1469-8080
pISSN - 1350-4827
DOI - 10.1002/met.19
Subject(s) - environmental science , thermal comfort , thermostat , current (fluid) , meteorology , atmospheric sciences , climatology , air conditioning , winter season , geography , physics , engineering , geology , electrical engineering , thermodynamics
In the present study, current and future indoor thermal comfort conditions in Greece are estimated from the monthly mean temperature values of 108 climatological stations. The data concern the period 1961–1990. Data from January have been taken to represent the cold season, while those from July represent the warm season. The estimation of the current comfort of indoor climates was assessed by considering lightly clothed sedentary people. For future climate conditions, the estimation was made by considering a possible temperature increase of about 2 °C, according to the general circulation models' prediction for Greece. The calculations showed that in the cold and the warm seasons, in both current and future conditions, it is recommended that the thermostat should be set at the calculated local comfort temperatures instead of the generally accepted positions of 22 and 25 °C for summer and winter respectively with considerable energy saving. However, due to the possible temperature increase even larger amounts of energy will be required for air‐conditioning in some parts of Greece during the warm season. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society