Thermal Comfort Simulation in Furniture Design: Integrating Considerations of the Building Thermal Environment

As demands for the quality of living environments increase, thermal comfort in furniture design is garnering attention. Studies indicate that furniture should not only meet basic functional and aesthetic requirements but also influence indoor thermal environments and interact with human thermal exchanges, which are crucial for optimizing living comfort. This research aims to explore how thermal comfort in furniture design can be integrated with the building thermal environment to enhance indoor comfort and energy efficiency. Existing studies predominantly focus on surface treatments of furniture, with a lack of comprehensive analysis on the material's contact thermal sensation, the thermal properties of furniture, and their performance under varying building thermal conditions. Addressing this gap, this paper proposes a comprehensive research framework consisting of three main components: first, analyzing the impact of the building thermal environment on furniture thermal comfort; second, designing furniture with consideration for material's contact temperature sensation; and finally, developing furniture heat release rate curves suitable for different building thermal environments. This series of studies not only enhances the scientific and practical aspects of furniture design but also provides new theories and methods for the field of architectural design.