ABSTRACT
The interaction between the human body and the environment, be it outdoor or indoor, depends on a complex set of factors, which can be summarized in two groups:
• Indoor environmental factors: Air temperature, mean radiant temperature, room air velocity, relative humidity
• Personal factors: Clothing, activity, recent thermal history
To these factors, secondary factors that influence the individual’s perception of heat or cold must be added (Melikov 2006). They can also be classified as environmental factors (non-homogeneity of the environmental parameters, parameters of the outdoor environment, etc.) and personal factors (adaptability, age, etc.)
It should be stressed that in an indoor environment where the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems (HVAC systems) provide the prescribed standard environmental parameters, clothing and activity are the only factors that depend on the individual and can, to some extent, be managed to achieve the desired thermophysiological comfort (Angelova 2003).
