Thermal comfort evaluation in kindergarten: PMV and PPD measurement through datalogger and questionnaire

In this research we present the results of a study about thermal comfort measurement and evaluation in kindergartens for children of 4 and 5 years of age. The overall study objective is to compare (1) indoor microclimate parameters, measured with a Datalogger following EN ISO 7730, and (2) childrenʹs subjective judgment, collected through a questionnaire following EN ISO 10551. Since we interviewed pre-scholar children, we needed to modify the questionnaire based on a psycho-pedagogical approach. School educators helped us change the questionnaire according to the pedagogical approach of the kindergarten (“Loris Malaguzzi” pedagogical model). This particular approach allowed us to verify how children understand concepts like temperature or heat sensation. The results show that children are sensible to these well-being issues, even if they express their opinion according to specific world models. The comparison between Datalogger instrumental data and questionnaire highlighted the need to enlarge the concept of comfort, taking into account different subject categories (children, young people, elderly people, infirm, etc.). This analysis shows that children understand the concept of comfort and can define their perceived and preferred thermal comfort level. Moreover, we verified that the PMV of children is slightly higher in respect to adults.