A review of thermal comfort modeling of elderly people

With the global warming and aging of society, the analysis of thermal comfort of elderly people is becoming more important. One example is during heat wave period, the elderly are exposed to a hot environment for a long time, the probability of health problems (cardiovascular disease, mental confusion, etc.) may increase, and even death may occur. The thermal comfort model can predict the human thermal response and evaluate the ambient thermal environment. Therefore, thermal comfort models have a significant effect to improve the thermal sensation of occupants in a built environment. But models being established with adults’ data may not be accurate enough in predicting the thermal response of the elderly. This paper reviews the existing thermal comfort models for the elderly and summarizes different types of thermal comfort models, including the thermoregulatory model, the thermal comfort model, and the machine learning model. The differences and the applicable conditions of models are summarized. This paper provides evidence from literature for the difference in thermal response between the elderly and young people, and also provides a reference for the establishment of a thermal comfort model for the elderly in the future.