ABSTRACT
People interact in a dynamic way with dynamic environments defined by the six basic parameters. In that context, the term special environment has no meaning. All conditions are particular cases of the human thermal environment and the same general principles apply. It is useful, however, to consider particular environments for which there may be special issues to address. For example, enclosed spaces or environments where the conditions change significantly with time. The general principles will apply, but do we need to give them special consideration? Do we need a specific thermal comfort index for vehicles? Will a novel heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system create distinct environments that need evaluation procedures that are different from ‘usual’? If we consider a relatively uniform steadystate environment such as in an air-conditioned office building as ‘normal’, then four commonly occurring cases are provided below which deviate from that. These are personal control environments, displacement ventilation and chilled ceiling environments, vehicle environments and outdoor environments.
