Thermal Comfort Survey in a National Library

On the basis of a research agreement, microclimatic data were collected in a National Library for studying the environmental quality of the building. For the library the study constituted particular interest in verifying the compliance of the air conditioning system installed in its new location to conservation needs of the library materials and to comfort needs of users and staff also. This contribution deals with the scientific aspect of thermal comfort surveyed by means of environmental monitoring and application to the case study of predictive models of thermohygrometric comfort for moderate thermal environments. Data obtained by the monitoring carried out in some sample rooms, show that: i) in winter the indoor environmental conditions often deviate from the standards on the ergonomics of thermal environment; ii) in summer there is a potential for improving the comfort using the passive behavior of the structure and the cooling capacity of natural ventilation together with the conscious use by the occupants of adaptive strategies.