ABSTRACT
The presented probabilistic study of overheating discomfort in residential buildings with natural ventilation is based on the Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) index. Besides the totals of hours with PPD >20% in a year, which are commonly used for expressing the thermal discomfort of building occupants, another measure of overheating is introduced. Particularly, the annual maxima of continuous intervals of hours at which a high PPD threshold is exceeded are studied. The second measure is intended for indicating potential health threat during heat waves. The main goal of the study is the estimation of the probabilities of exceeding annual maxima, which are obtained as complementary probabilities to those of theoretical distributions fitted to the maxima sample distributions. For interpretation of the annual exceedance probability its relationship to the mean return period (in years) is used. The suggested probabilistic approach is illustrated on example of a typical section of a naturally ventilated residential building represented by two opposite rooms connected by a corridor in original and retrofitted state.
