Thermal Comfort Aggregation Modeling Based on Social Science Theory: Towards a Comfort-Driven Cyber Human System Framework

A classroom is a multioccupancy environment that typically involves a large number of students with varying comfort zones and comfort levels in one single space, making it challenging to provide a satisfactory environment to accommodate the comfort needs of this diverse population. Current building practices that rely on centralized heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems result in poor occupant satisfaction with the indoor environment, especially when the occupant group is large and diverse. There is, thus, a need to integrate HVAC system with a cyber human system (CHS) that allows for adaptive HVAC operation based on an aggregated group comfort level that collectively accounts for the comfort levels of diverse student populations. At the cornerstone of the CHS system, this paper focuses on discussing our proposed group comfort aggregation model that quantifies the thermal comfort levels of a group of occupants based on their individual thermal comfort levels. The proposed model is theoretically grounded in social welfare theory and social welfare function. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a more explicit understanding of how to measure group thermal comfort in the indoor environments. The proposed model serves as the foundation of adaptive and comfort-driven HVAC operation that offers more comfortable and healthier classroom environments to students.