Urban planning as thermal comfort
Introduction
Thermal comfort, hygrothermal comfort, or more properly hygrothermal comfort, can be defined as the absence of thermal discomfort. In physiology it is said that there is hygrothermal comfort when the body's thermoregulatory mechanisms do not have to intervene for sedentary activity and with light clothing. This situation can be recorded by indices that should not be exceeded so that the thermoregulatory systems (metabolism, sweating and others) do not come into operation.
Physiology, environment and comfort
The human body is prepared to react to climate changes, but these reactions cause it to consume metabolic energy. The feeling of comfort arises from staying in a microclimate that avoids the body's reaction, saving energy costs, which is called "natural thermoregulation" (as opposed to shelter, which is a phenomenon of artificial thermoregulation).
Normal body temperature is 36.5°C. In diseases it can rise to 41 °C or 42 °C (hyperthermia) where it becomes dangerous. The human body is very sensitive to increases in indoor temperature and just 5 or 6 degrees more can cause very significant damage and even death. Low temperatures are even less tolerated and at 35 °C (hypothermia) you begin to feel drowsy until you fall into deep lethargy.
Sitting in a room with light clothing and doing light activity, the sensation of thermal satisfaction is reached between 21 °C and 25 °C. Relative humidity -RH-, which is usually blamed as the cause of discomfort, is less significant since the body's tolerance is great, allowing limits between 20% and 75%.
The body is very sensitive to changes in radiation. If the temperature is below 18 °C but there is good sun, you immediately feel that the sensation of hygrothermal comfort increases. This principle is used by radiant slab or radiant floor heating and by the radiator system. But just as it is pleasant for the sun to shine through a window in winter, it becomes unpleasant in the summer.
To understand what conditions well-being and its relationship with architecture, it must be assumed that the human body produces heat and exchanges it with the environment that surrounds it.
Chemical transformations occur within the human organism that maintain life by producing heat, through homeostasis. Thus there is a thermodynamics of living organisms. This permanent flow of energy is assessed by the metabolic rate and varies according to the person's activity level, age, sex and psychological state.