Investigating Thermal Adaptive Behaviors of Villas and Apartments Occupants in Rasht City in Cold Season

Indoor comfort is affected not only by dwellings architecture, but also by physiological adaptation and behavioral settings. Since the human behavior plays an important role in their thermal balance with the environment, the subject of this research is adaptive behaviors of the occupants due to environmental, architectural, and individual-demographic variables and the role of factors affecting the occupant thermal satisfaction.This research aimed at investigating the thermal adaptation of residential dwellings occupants of Rasht in winter to save energy.

The research is an applied type, collection of required data is an in-situ method and the main question is,"Which behavioral patterns of villa and apartment dwellings occupants affect thermal comfort and reducing energy consumption in cold periods of the year?"The required data gathered through questionnaires and field surveys, and data analysis based on bivariate, multivariate regression models.

According to ASHRAE (±1), the occupants in comfort zone were 88.8% and 84.3% for villa and apartment units. The adaptability of villa house occupants is -4.9 and +1.9, and apartment unit occupants -2.1 and 0.8 C from the lower and upper limits of the comfort standard range (21-25). Occupants used many adaptive behaviors, indicating the priority of using passive solutions over active solutions to achieve thermal comfort.

The results of the multiple regression model showed that environmental factors in villa houses and individual-demographic in apartments have the greatest effect on thermal comfort.The research results can be useful in designing more suitable and flexible residential spaces, leading to an energy consumption reduction.