Thermal comfort educational software for hot climates

Thermal comfort studies have been developed all around the world by many authors and some adaptive comfort models have been proved specifically for warm climates. An educational software developed some years ago for temperate climate, ACT (Program for the Evaluation of Thermal Comfort), by Isalgué and Serra, has been proved and used successfully by students in the Mediterranean climate of Barcelona, since 1992. This software uses an empirical model, based on Fanger’s PMV. The purpose of this work in this first approach is to verify if one basic comfort model can be used for different climates, maintaining the simplicity of the original model, as a good approach. An adaptive factor has been added to the model, in order to take into account the acclimatization, not only around the year but also for different climates. The accuracy of the model has been verified for the hot dry climate of Hermosillo city, in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, analyzing the comfort votes of people in indoor and outdoor spaces. The asked comfort votes and the calculated values by the software are compared and discussed. The accuracy in prediction of the PMV is useful for an optimal control of air conditioning systems, which leads to better thermal conditions of the occupants and to the conscious utilization of energetic resources for cooling.