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A comparison of methods for assessing the thermal insulation value of children's schoolwear in Kuwait

journal contribution
posted on 2011-12-06, 09:24 authored by Khaled E. Al-Rashidi, Dennis Loveday, Nawaf Al-Mutawa, George HavenithGeorge Havenith
In this study, three methods were used to determine the thermal insulation values of different school clothing worn by 6 to 17 year old girls and boys in Kuwait classrooms for both summer and winter seasons. The different clothing ensembles’ insulations were determined by 1: measurement using adultsized versions of the clothing on thermal manikins, 2: estimations from adult clothing data obtained from the standards tables in ISO 9920 and ASHRAE 55, and 3: calculations using a regression equation from McCullough et al. (1985) that was adapted to accommodate children’s sizes for ages 6e17 years. Values for the clothing area factor, fcl, were also determined by measurement and by using a prediction equation from ISO 9920. Results in this study suggested that the clothing insulation values found from the measured and adapted data were similar to the adult’s data in standards tables for the same summer and winter seasons. Further, the effect of the insulation values on the different scholars’ age groups were investigated using the clothing temperature rating technique and compared to the scholars’ comfort temperature found in recent field studies. Results showed that the temperature ratings of the clothing using the three methods described above are close and in agreement with the scholars’ comfort temperature. Though estimated and measured fcl data differed, the impact on the temperature ratings was limited. An observed secular change in the children’s heights and weights in the last few decades implies that, for adolescents, the children’s body surface areas are similar to those of adults, making the use of adult clothing tables even more acceptable. In conclusion, this study gives some evidence to support the applicability of using adults’ data in ASHRAE 55 and ISO 9920 standards to assess the thermal insulation values of different children’s clothing ensembles, provided that careful selection of the garments, ensembles material and design takes place.

History

School

  • Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering

Published in

APPL ERGON

Volume

43

Issue

1

Pages

203 - 210

Citation

AL-RASHIDI, K., LOVEDAY, D., AL-MUTAWA, N. ...et al., 2012. A comparison of methods for assessing the thermal insulation value of children’s schoolwear in Kuwait. Applied Ergonomics, 43 (1), pp. 203-210.

Publisher

© Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Publication date

2012

Notes

This item is closed access. It was published in the journal, Applied Ergonomics [© Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx,doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2011.05.010

ISSN

0003-6870;1872-9126

Language

  • en

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