The Necessity of Improving the Standard for Thermal Environment in Korean Public Facilities

Abstract

As one of the energy saving policies, the Korean government has been regulating the indoor thermal environment of public office facilities in Korea, starting with energy conservation measures in 1980. This policy, which is above 28 degrees C in summer and below 18 degrees C in winter, is causing discomfort among the occupants. The purpose of this study is to support the need to improve temperature limitation standards of the Korean public office facilities. For this purpose, the standards for the thermal environment in offices of major countries and associations were examined. Subsequently, they were compared with the Korean standards. Additionally, nine buildings of public office facilities in Korea were surveyed on the thermal environment, and PMV measurement was carried out. As a result, most of the buildings that complied with the cooling temperature standard as well as most of the buildings that did not comply were found to be uncomfortable. In conclusion, to improve the comfort of Korean public office facilities in the heating and cooling period, it is necessary to mitigate temperature regulation and regulate additional environmental factors.