Revisiting an old hypothesis of human thermal perception: alliesthesia
Abstract
Many new technologies and approaches to the provision of comfort inside buildings such as displacement ventilation, mixed-mode strategies, personally controllable (task-ambient) designs, chilled beams as well as some old but recently fashionable ones such as natural ventilation are prompting a rethink of the accepted comfort wisdom. How can a single combination of thermal environmental parameters be deemed unacceptable in a conventional heating ventilation and air-conditioning setting, and yet be regarded as acceptable, or even pleasant, in a naturally ventilated or mixed-mode setting? Why do current comfort standards prescribe static and isothermal conditions for comfort in one building, and dynamic and spatially variable indoor climates for comfort in another? The phenomenon of alliesthesia is used to differentiate thermal pleasure from thermal neutrality and acceptability. Alliesthesia is proposed as the logical framework of a new approach to thermal comfort modelling, building on the solid foundation of multi-node physiological models currently available in the literature. De nombreuses technologies et approches nouvelles visant à assurer le confort à l'intérieur des immeubles, telles que la ventilation par déplacement d'air, les stratégies à mode mixte, les conceptions à commandes individuelles (intégrant des luminaires autorisant un éclairage individualisé des différentes tâches), les poutres froides, ainsi que certaines technologies et approches anciennes, mais revenues en vogue, telles que la ventilation naturelle, amènent à repenser les idées reçues sur le confort. Comment une combinaison donnée de paramètres environnementaux thermiques peut-elle être considérée comme non acceptable dans un cadre à chauffage, ventilation et climatisation classiques, et néanmoins jugée comme acceptable, voire agréable, dans un cadre à ventilation naturelle ou à mode mixte ? Pourquoi les normes de confort actuelles prescrivent-elles des conditions statiques et isothermes pour assurer le confort dans un immeuble donné, et des climats intérieurs dynamiques et spatialement variables pour assurer le confort dans un autre ? Le phénomène d'alliesthésie est utilisé pour différencier le plaisir thermique de la neutralité thermique et de l'acceptabilité. L'alliesthésie est proposée comme cadre logique d'une nouvelle approche de la modélisation du confort thermique, s'appuyant sur les bases solides qu'offrent les modèles physiologiques multinodaux actuellement disponibles dans la littérature. Mots clés: acceptabilité alliesthésie asymétrie isotherme statique confort thermique perception thermique plaisir thermique thermorécepteur transitoire
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People accept much broader thermal conditions than anticipated by standards, and their perception of thermal conditions is much more dynamic.
“At the same time, research has shown that people accept much broader thermal conditions than anticipated by above standards [1,3,14,47], andtheir perception of thermal conditions is much more dynamic [48–51].”
From Drivers of diversity in human thermal perception – A review for holistic comfort models (2018) · cites this paper as [51]
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- Authors
- de Dear, R.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney
- Venue
- Building Research & Information
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2011-03-22
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 108-117
- ISSN
- 0961-3218 (ISSN-L)
- 1466-4321
- OpenAlex
- W2135293945
- Cited by
- 333
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 20.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Building Research & Information (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Urban Heat Island Mitigation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Thermoregulation and physiological responses
- Keywords
- thermal comfort, thermoneutrality, thermal acceptability, mixed-mode ventilation, displacement ventilation, natural ventilation, chilled beams, comfort standards, thermal sensation
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