Field study on thermal environment and human thermal comfort in indoor fitness centers in Xi’an

The thermal environment in sports venues is an crucial factor influencing the comfort, health, and exercise motivation of active participants.This study uses a combination of on-site investigation and laboratory research, obtains the thermal comfort status of fitness people through on-site investigation, extracts the characteristics of fitness people (clothing and exercise type), and further obtains the clothing thermal resistance data and metabolic rate data for different fitness exercises through the laboratory measurement. Based on the above results, the thermal comfort threshold of fitness people under different exercise intensities is discussed, and the applicability of PMV model to the evaluation of thermal environment in fitness centers is evaluated. The results show that the individuals engaging in high-intensity fitness exercises (above 5 met) prefer a lower comfort temperature compared to those participating in moderate-intensity exercises (below 5 met). During exercises, the most comfortable state for fitness people is identified as a thermal sensation vote of “slightly warm”. The upper limit of the comfort temperature of the human body is 24.3 ℃ during moderate-intensity exercises, and 19.4 ℃ during high-intensity exercises. The airflow will also significantly affect the thermal comfort of the exercise people. As the exercise intensity increases, the expectation of the exercise people for increasing the air speed becomes stronger.