Dataset for "Thermal comfort in lower economic groups: The applicability of the ASHRAE-55 adaptive standards in informal settlements and refugee camps"

Data collection method:

Thermal comfort surveys, including spot measurements of environmental parameters, were conducted in Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps in Jordan, Markazi camp in Djibouti, Hitsats camp in Ethiopia and several towns in Peru (Chivay and Yanake in the Andes Mountains, Viru and Trojillio on the coast, and Nuevo Belen in the Amazon). The surveys were either conducted directly by the research team who spoke the local language (Jordan and Peru) or with the assistance of local interpreters (Ethiopia and Djibouti). The thermal comfort scales used were the standard 7-point ASHRAE thermal sensation scale and the 5-point thermal preference scale (see Table 1). The thermal sensation scale records an occupants' Thermal Sensation Vote (TSV) on a scale of (hot to cold), while the thermal preference scale asks the occupants what their preferred sensation is (Thermal Preference Vote, TPV) at that moment, from ''much cooler'' to "much warmer". A numerical approach to voting on the scales is used. The spot measurements of environmental parameters include air velocity, wet bulb temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, and globe temperature, and were collected using hand-held devices at the same time a TSV and TPV were taken. These variables where then used to calculate the operative temperature for each corresponding vote.