Assessment of Thermal Comfort in Naturally Ventilated Factory Buildings: A Case Study in Mumbai, India

Productivity and Satisfaction of the building occupants is largely influenced by Thermal Comfort. Specifically, in Factory buildings where occupants are constantly exposed to excessive heat produced from machines, it is important to maintain comfortable indoor environment and therefore evaluation of the comfort conditions inside these buildings is necessary. The research aims at assessment of naturally ventilated factory buildings located inside a Factory Premise in Mumbai. Three factory buildings with similar process and architectural features having different orientation and sizes were selected for assessment. The assessment was done based on onsite measurements and thermal comfort survey of the occupants. Key reasons behind discomfort were identified. Based on this assessment and comparison with standards, design guidelines were formulated. There is further scope for validating effect of passive design strategies with the help of Building Simulation.