Energy and Buildings 78 (2014) 1724

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Energy and Buildings

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Individual and district heating: A comparison of residential heating

modes with an analysis of adaptive thermal comfort
Bin Cao, Yingxin Zhu , Min Li, Qin Ouyang
Department of Building Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 21 December 2013
Received in revised form 10 March 2014
Accepted 26 March 2014
Available online 5 April 2014
Keywords:
Thermal comfort
Thermal adaptation
Winter
Residence
District heating
Individual heating

a b s t r a c t
A eld study was conducted in ten apartment residences in Beijing for an entire winter. Among the
residences, ve were supplied by district heating (DH) and the other ve utilized individual heating (IH).
Indoor environmental variables were measured by self-recording instruments, and the thermal comfort
situation of residents was investigated through weekly online questionnaires. According to the on-site
survey, IH users provided a higher acceptable evaluation compared to DH users, which was explained as
the result of different control modes. In the DH apartments, the thermal conditions were given by the
central heating system. However, in IH apartments, people could control the amount of heating according
to their personal demand. Moreover, the fact that the individual control mode is directly related to
heating costs stimulated peoples adaptive behavior. The mechanism of the impact of individual control
on thermal comfort was also discussed in terms of psychological and behavioral adaptations. This paper
could be a reference for decision makers and designers as they choose the appropriate heating type in
buildings in order to meet occupants demand and to conserve energy.
2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The building sector is one of the major energy-consuming elds
in most countries. In China, the annual building energy consumption has increased from 243 million tce (tons of standard coal
equivalent) to 687 million tce over the last 15 years [1]. Since
China is a large country with a complex climate, Chinas national
standard Thermal Design Code for Civil Building (GB50176-93) [2]
denes ve climate zones as severe cold (SC), cold (C), hot summer
and cold winter (HSCW), hot summer and warm winter (HSWW),
and temperate (T) zones (Fig. 1). Among these climate zones, urban
buildings in SC and C zones receive district heating in winter, and
they consumed 166 million tce in 2011 [1], which was nearly 25%
of Chinas total energy cost that year.
Urbanization in China is still in progress, so the number of
buildings is expected to grow continuously. Peoples demand for
indoor comfort, especially in formerly underdeveloped areas, is
expected to increase as well. Moreover, because of the extremely
cold weather in the HSCW zone in recent winters, discussion about
whether to provide heating in this area has already begun. All these
factors may inuence the increased energy consumption of Chinas

Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 10 62782746; fax: +86 10 62773461.

E-mail address: zhuyx@tsinghua.edu.cn (Y. Zhu).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.03.063
0378-7788/ 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

heating supply, which is a serious burden for both China and the
international community.
Presently, several different types of heating systems are used
throughout the world. Normally, heating supply methods in China
can be divided into two categories: district heating and individual
heating. Choosing the appropriate heating type will both improve
indoor thermal comfort and limit energy consumption. The issue
of energy conservation has been examined in previous research
[1,47]. Existing data show that individual heating methods (e.g.,
split air-conditioning, wall-mounted gas boilers, etc.) consume less
energy than district heating (Table 1) [1].
The above comparison of energy consumption reveals another
question related to the effects of thermal comfort: Does saving energy lead to sacricing of thermal comfort? Additional
research is needed to clarify the answer. In general, thermal comfort
studies on cold climates are not as common as those on warm climates, but some important studies have been conducted in Europe,
North America, and northern Asia. Based on a review of the literature, it is apparent that previous thermal comfort studies on winter
conditions have focused primarily on two different approaches as
follows.

(1) In studies that examined indoor environments served by

space heating, the heating demand of occupants and heating
effects were the main considerations. In England, Mumovic [8]

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B. Cao et al. / Energy and Buildings 78 (2014) 1724

around 1215 C during winter. People in this area mostly wore

additional clothing to improve thermal comfort.
Despite these valuable contributions, comparisons between different heating types on thermal comfort have been limited. This
paper is an attempt to address this issue. An investigation of residences with district heating and those with individual heating was
conducted in Beijing. Differences in occupants thermal comfort
were explained from the perspective of adaptation. This research
might be useful for decision makers and designers located in areas
where appropriate heating methods are being selected for implementation. The results of this study might be helpful for both China
and other countries that are on a similar developmental path.
2. Methodology

Fig. 1. Five climate zones according to Chinas national standard [2,3].

monitored nine schools during 2006 and 2007. It was observed

that the heated indoor temperature varied between the
warmest condition of 29.0 C and the coolest condition of
18.0 C, indicating that there could be some discomfort among
students. Kuchen [9] did a winter survey in Germany covering
148 work spaces belonging to 25 ofce buildings. The average operative temperature of most surveyed spaces was around
22.7 C, and the building users showed better acceptance than
the thermal prediction indexes had indicated. Wang [10] conducted a eld study in residential buildings during the winter
in Harbin, China (in the SC zone) from 2009 to 2010; it was
found that the neutral air temperature was 20.4 C while space
heating was used, and a temperature range of 19.026.5 C
was considered acceptable by 80% of the occupants. Cao [11]
observed classrooms and ofces with space heating in Beijing
(in the C zone), in which the indoor neutral temperature was
determined to be 20.9 C, demonstrating that indoor overheating made people uncomfortable. Kavgic [12] and Zeiler [13]
conducted similar research in Belgrade and the Netherlands,
respectively.
(2) Studies that examined buildings without heating or where the
heating supply was ineffective focused primarily on the indoor
condition and how people endured or adapted to the environment. Huang [14] conducted measurements and surveys
in suburban Beijing buildings without a good heating supply;
the neutral temperature for local residents was 18.4 C, and the
lower limit of the acceptable temperature zone was as low as
10.9 C. Yan [15] conducted a eld study on traditional houses
in a village in Shanxi province (in the C zone), where the indoor
temperatures in January were as low as 67 C. Han [16] investigated both urban and rural residences in Hunan province (in
the HSCW zone), and found that the neutral temperatures for
urban and rural residents were 14.0 C and 11.5 C, respectively.
Liu [17] carried out a study in Nanjing, Wuhan, and Chongqing
(all in the HSCW zone), and the results showed that the indoor
air temperatures of dwellings without heating facilities were

Table 1
Energy consumption per unit of different heating methods [1].
Heating method

Energy consumption (kgce/(m2 year))

Split air-conditioning
Wall-mounted gas boiler
District heating

23
35
812

kgce: kilograms of standard coal equivalent.

Beijing, located at latitude 39 54 N and longitude 116 25 E, is a

typical city in the cold climate zone of China: the summer is warm,
and the winter is cold and dry. The mean outdoor air temperature
is 26.5 C in July and 3.8 C in January. The relative humidity is
around 70% in summer and 42% in winter.
The investigation was conducted from November 2011 to
February 2012. There were 10 apartment residences involved in
this study, half of which were district heating users, and the other
half used individual heating (wall-mounted gas boilers). For convenience, the abbreviations DH (district heating) and IH (individual
heating) are used hereafter. During the heating period for DH apartments, hot water was supplied from a central heating station and
owed through long pipelines to each terminal. The heating period
(normally from 15th November to 15th March) and supplied heat
(to maintain the indoor temperature above 18 C) were managed
by the heating station, which served several communities with
many thousands of apartments. This is the most general mode of
heating in the northern cities of China where space heating is supplied. In the DH apartments, there is no direct control for residents.
However, in the IH apartments, hot water was produced by a wallmounted gas boiler in each unit; occupants could determine the
operation period and adjust the indoor temperature by themselves.
During the last decade in Beijing, a number of newly built residential buildings have been constructed with wall-mounted gas
boilers.
The occupants of the interviewed residences worked in the same
university. In this case, the social status, cultural background, and
income level of each family were similar, so the impact of these
factors on thermal comfort evaluation could be avoided. The DH
users lived in the residential community shown in Fig. 2. The community was built on campus in the late 1990s. The terminal of the
heating supply system in each apartment is a radiator (Fig. 3). In
contrast, the IH residential community (Fig. 4) was built in the
early 2000s some distance away from campus. Fig. 5 shows a typical wall-mounted gas boiler in these units, where radiators were
also installed as terminals for radiant and convection heats transfer.
The constructions in both communities followed the same design
standard for residential buildings, that the thermal insulations of
the building envelopes were on the same level. The investigated
apartments in both communities were all on middle oors, and had
same room type including 2 bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 kitchen and
1 lavatory.
During the winter, a WSZY-1A self-recording thermometer and
hygrometer (Fig. 6) was placed in the living room of each investigated apartment to continuously record the indoor air temperature
and humidity variation. All the instruments were newly calibrated
before the investigation started. The accuracy of the instrument
is shown in Table 2. In each investigated apartment, the permanent family members were asked to ll out a thermal comfort

B. Cao et al. / Energy and Buildings 78 (2014) 1724

19

Table 2
Measuring range and accuracy of the WSZY-1A self-recording thermometer and hygrometer.
Instrument

Variable

Measuring range

Accuracy

WSZY-1A self-recording thermometer and hygrometer

Air temperature
Relative humidity

40 to 100 C
0100%

0.5 C
3%

Fig. 2. The investigated community using DH.

Fig. 5. A typical wall-mounted gas boiler in IH apartments.

Fig. 3. A radiator in DH apartments.

Fig. 4. The investigated community using IH.

questionnaire once a week. The questionnaire was designed

and published through a website (www.sojump.com); the occupants%3Frsquo; clothing condition and their thermal reactions,
such as thermal sensation, thermal expectations, thermal acceptance, etc. were surveyed through the questionnaire (Table 3). The
occupants would receive a weekly message by cell phone to remind
them to ll out their questionnaires online. In this way, the traditional method of frequently knocking on occupants doors was
avoided, which enhanced the participants willingness to complete
the investigation.
The investigation received 115 valid questionnaires. Averagely,
there were about 12 questionnaires from each apartment. From the
submitted information of age and gender, it could be inferred that
not only one person of each family responded to the questionnaires.
Totally, 24 persons were involved in this investigation. Among all
the valid questionnaires, 56 were submitted by men, and 59 were
from women. All the interviewees had lived in Beijing for more
than 5 years, thus they adapted to the local climate quite well. The

Fig. 6. WSZY-1A self-recording thermometer and hygrometer.

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B. Cao et al. / Energy and Buildings 78 (2014) 1724

Table 3
Subjective questions about clothing condition and thermal comfort.

oldest interviewee was 58 years old, while the youngest was 29;
the mean age was 37.4.

Table 4
Variation of indoor air temperature and relative humidity in each apartment during
the investigation period.
Heating mode

Air temperature ( C)

Relative humidity (%)

Min.

Max.

Mean

Min.

Max.

Mean

1
2
3
4
5

17.9
16.4
18.4
17.7
18.9

23.5
24.0
25.5
24.1
21.7

20.9
19.4
20.5
20.8
20.3

17.5
11.2
12.5
11.7
20.4

47.1
37.4
54.1
36.4
62.9

34.2
20.0
26.9
22.2
47.9

6
7
8
9
10

15.9
15.9
15.8
16.1
18.7

22.9
20.6
23.0
21.9
20.7

18.7
18.4
18.8
18.5
19.6

16.4
34.3
31.2
27.0
23.3

60.0
80.7
76.6
57.4
63.3

26.2
56.5
52.2
35.0
31.1

No.

3. Results
3.1. Thermal environments
The variation of indoor air temperature and relative humidity in
each apartment during the investigation period is shown in Table 4.
The indoor thermal radiation and air ow were not continuously measured along with air temperature and humidity, since
the size of globe thermometers and anemometers would have disrupted the families regular activities if they had been left in their
apartments. However, measurements of the two variables in each
residence were arranged twice during the investigation period. The
measured data showed that the mean radiant temperature did not
differ much from the air temperature (i.e., within 0.5 C) in the
areas of the apartments where the occupants spent the most time.
Meanwhile, the air velocity was very low, with a mean value of
0.05 m/s, which was much lower than the human sensitivity threshold for air ow (0.2 m/s) [3]. During the investigation period, the
maximum and minimum outdoor temperatures were 6.2 C and
10.0 C, respectively, with a mean outdoor temperature of 2.1 C.
Fig. 7 shows the mean indoor temperatures of DH and IH apartments, respectively, in January 2012. The daily mean outdoor
temperature is also shown in this gure. Three signicant differences between the two heating modes can be observed:

District heating

Individual heating

(1) The mean indoor temperature of IH spaces was 0.53.0 C lower

than that of DH spaces, which might reect the occupants
actual demand for heating.
(2) People in DH residences did not have control methods to adjust
the indoor temperature. If their apartments were overheated,
the most possible thing they would like to do was to open windows, so the recorded indoor temperature showed variation
along with the outdoor temperature. However, in IH apartments, users could control the amount of heat they received
and avoided overheating, which made the indoor temperature
relatively stable.

B. Cao et al. / Energy and Buildings 78 (2014) 1724

21

Fig. 9. Comparison of clothing insulation between DH users and IH users.

Fig. 7. Daily mean indoor air temperature of the investigated residences and outdoor air temperature in January 2012.

DH :
(3) If the apartments were not occupied, IH users could turn off the
heat to save energy. For instance, during the vacation period of
the Chinese Lunar New Year (January 2229, 2012), most participants left Beijing and went back to their hometowns. When
the IH users left, they turned off the heating facilities or kept the
temperature at a low level. But because the DH apartments did
not have the same ability, their indoor temperatures remained
at a relatively high level.
3.2. Thermal comfort
The mean value of occupants TSV (Thermal Sensation Vote,
according to the answers to the 2nd question in Table 3) was
calculated for both DH and IH interviewees in 1 C intervals. The
relationship between TSV variation and indoor air temperature
is shown in Fig. 8; the temperature at which the TSV regression line crosses the line of TSV = 0 is regarded as the neutral
temperature. Fig. 8 illustrates that the neutral temperature for DH
users was 22.0 C, while that for IH users was 18.6 C. Comparing
the two regression lines, it can be seen that the TSV of IH users is
always higher than that of DH users. Eqs. (1) and (2) express the
regressions between TSV and ta (indoor air temperature). The gradient in Eq. (2) is higher than that in Eq. (1), which indicates that
the thermal sensation of DH users changed to a greater extent compared to IH users when the thermal environment deviated from the
neutral condition.
IH : TSV = 0.172ta 3.204, R2 = 0.8120

Fig. 8. Comparison of TSV between DH users and IH users.

(1)

TSV = 0.211ta 4.647, R2 = 0.8821

(2)

The clothing insulation was calculated according to the occupants responses to the 1st question in Table 3, and with regard to
the recommended garment insulation value in ASHRAE Standard
55-2010 [18]. Fig. 9 shows the variation of interviewees clothing
insulation along with the indoor air temperature. Each mark in the
gure represents the mean insulation value within each interval
of 1 C. The IH users were more likely to adjust their clothing; the
variation of their clothing insulation was more evident than it was
for the DH users, although the mean values for both groups were
around 0.92 clo. The regressions of clothing insulation and indoor
air temperature are shown in Eqs. (3) and (4).
The ability to control the indoor temperature in IH apartments
is helpful for eliminating peoples anxiety about suffering from
possible discomfort. Thus, people had appropriate expectations of
their indoor environment. When they set up the heating temperature, they would consider their actual demand and would refrain
from overheating. Moreover, the individual control mode stimulated peoples adaptive behavior since it has a direct relationship
with heating costs. For example, when people felt a little bit cold,
they tended to wear more clothing to improve their thermal sensation rather than immediately increasing the temperature setting,
as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.
IH :
DH :

Icl = 0.068ta + 2.235, R2 = 0.8865

Icl = 0.020ta + 1.316, R2 = 0.4493

(3)
(4)

When experiencing the same indoor temperature, IH users provided higher acceptable evaluations (Fig. 10), and the ratio of
people who wanted the current temperature to be maintained
was higher for IH users than for DH users (Fig. 11). The reason
the IH users always gave better evaluations than DH users was
ultimately because of the individual control mode. In IH apartments, regardless of whether the indoor temperature was high
or low, it was controlled by the users according to their actual
demand. However, in the DH apartments, the thermal conditions were prescribed by the central heating system. Since these
systems are usually large and serve many communities, complete
hydraulic equilibrium between each branch is difcult to achieve;
both under-heating and overheating occur in some apartments
from time to time. During these occasions, the occupants did not
have the ability to adjust the heating supply by themselves, which
might worsen their thermal sensation and negatively affect their
acceptance of the environment.

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B. Cao et al. / Energy and Buildings 78 (2014) 1724

Fig. 12. Procedure of thermal adaptation related to environmental control.

Fig. 10. Ratio of people who accepted their current thermal environment.

4. Discussion: mechanism of the impact of individual

control on thermal comfort
Starting in the late 1990s, a number of researchers have paid
close attention to adaptive thermal comfort issues, with the representatives of Brager and de Dear [1922] and Humphreys and Nicol
[2326]. Brager and de Dear [19] concluded that three forms of
adaptive access exist: physiological, psychological, and behavioral.
Our paper is concerned with the comparison between individual
and centralized heating modes, which is closely related to psychological and behavioral adaptation issues. As such, the impact
of environmental control modes on thermal comfort is worthy of
discussion.
Current discussions on this topic typically center around two
viewpoints. One of them holds that mechanical control of the
indoor environment negatively affects human thermal comfort,
which is supported by the ePMV model introduced by Fanger [27].
This model suggests that the lack of control in non-HVAC spaces
reduces peoples expectations; they believe that they are destined
to work or live in extreme environments, and this belief enhances
their thermal endurance and reduces their dissatisfaction. However, people who are used to being in HVAC-controlled spaces have
higher expectations, so their thermal comfort demand is harder to
satisfy.

Fig. 11. Ratio of people who wanted their current temperature to be maintained.

Conversely, the other viewpoint insists that indoor environmental control has a positive impact on thermal comfort. Studies from
Nikolopoulou [28] and Zhou [29] showed that when people had the
ability to control the environmental factors that might cause discomfort, their thermal comfort was improved, even if they did not
always use the control methods. In these cases, peoples anxiety
about suffering from poor thermal conditions was reduced, which
made them accept a wider range of environmental parameters.
To explain the mechanism of thermal adaptation caused by
environmental control, we can take a closer look at an HVAC system with individual control and analyze the procedure (shown in
Fig. 12). First, occupants set the indoor temperature via the HVAC
system according to their thermal expectations ( ); the system
will then heat or cool the space to meet the occupants demand
( ). At this moment, the indoor thermal variables (environmental
factors), clothing and activity conditions of the people themselves
(personal physiological factors), and their expectations (personal
psychological factors) all affect thermal comfort evaluation ( ,
and
). As the occupants remain in a certain space for some time,
the indoor thermal conditions will have a mental effect on them in
reverse, i.e., making them adjust their thermal expectations ( ).
As a result of these processes, if people feel comfortable, thermal
adaptation completes. However, if people judge their current sensation to be uncomfortable, a series of behavioral adjustments will
be carried out as follows:
(1) Adjusting clothing and/or activity level, in order to have appropriate clothing insulation and metabolic condition ( ).
(2) Raising or lowering the temperature setting to achieve comfort
using the HVAC system ( ).
(3) Utilizing certain methods other than the HVAC system to
improve the indoor thermal conditions, such as natural ventilation, electric fans or heaters, etc. ( ).
Considering these behavioral adjustments, whether people feel
comfortable or not will be assessed by themselves. If the answer
is yes, then the process of thermal adaptation is completed. Otherwise, the procedure will repeat once again.
In district HVAC systems without individual control, occupants
cannot set or adjust the temperature by themselves, and the indoor
environmental condition is not determined by the occupants
actual demand (i.e., lack of and ). Even more, in some so-called
slap-up apartments which announce to provide their occupants
constant temperature and humidity by district HVAC, people are
not allowed to open windows by themselves, which restricts the
use of natural ventilation to improve the indoor environment (i.e.,
is weak). Thus, with central control of HVAC systems, people

B. Cao et al. / Energy and Buildings 78 (2014) 1724

can hardly improve their thermal comfort by behavioral adaptation, which represents a distinct contrast to the comfort level that
they thought HVAC-conditioned spaces should produce.
In non-HVAC buildings, people do not have an effective way
to control the indoor environment (i.e., lack of
,
, and
).
In this condition, when people feel uncomfortable, their clothing
and activity level can be adjusted, while natural ventilation and
electric fans or heaters are normally available to improve their thermal comfort to some extent. However, this improvement effect is
still limited compared to that of the individually controlled HVAC
system.
So far, it is clear that the conict between the two viewpoints
of whether or not environmental control is benecial to thermal
comfort can be resolved.
The opinion presented by Fanger, which considers the lack of
environmental control capacity positive for human thermal evaluation, was actually based on comparisons between the centrally
controlled HVAC and non-HVAC conditions. In the latter condition,
although there is no HVAC service, occupants have the ability to
adjust their clothing, activity level, and indoor environmental situation to some extent. This is better than the xed environment that
centrally controlled HVAC systems produce. In addition, in nonHVAC conditions, people have lower thermal expectations, which
make their comfort demand easier to satisfy.
The other viewpoint, which holds that environmental control
is advantageous to thermal comfort, was based on comparisons
between the individually controlled HVAC and non-HVAC conditions. Compared to the advantages of non-HVAC conditions
mentioned above, users of individually controlled HVAC systems also have sufcient opportunities for behavioral adjustment.
Furthermore, they can control the environmental parameters
according to their actual demand. Even if the control function
is not always being used, occupants feel they are guaranteed to
have options, and whenever they feel uncomfortable, they are able
to manage their discomfort. Thus, the individual control capacity
enhances their acceptance of the environment.
Previous studies on the impact of environmental control on
thermal comfort have mostly focused on making comparisons
between air-conditioning and natural ventilation in summer. This
paper discusses a study on heating control in winter, the results
of which support those of previous research. Individual control of
HVAC systems can lead to superior thermal comfort compared to
the central control mode by means of psychological and behavioral
adaptation procedures.

5. Conclusions
A winter eld study was conducted in Beijing, focusing on the
comparison of thermal comfort between DH and IH residences.
Indoor environmental variables of the investigated apartments
were recorded, and the occupants submitted a weekly online thermal comfort questionnaire during the investigation period.
According to the recorded data, the mean indoor temperature
of IH spaces was 0.53.0 C lower than that of DH spaces. The mean
clothing insulation values of both groups were around 0.92 clo.
However, IH users were more willing to adjust their clothing; the
variation of clothing insulation was more evident for IH users than it
was for DH users. The neutral temperature for DH users was 22.0 C,
while that for IH users was 18.6 C. When experiencing the same
indoor temperature, TSV of IH users was always higher. IH users
also provided higher acceptance than DH users did.
These differences can be explained by the individual control
mode. In the investigated DH apartments, the thermal conditions
were given by the central heating system, and people did not
have the ability to adjust the indoor temperature. However, in IH

23

apartments, people could control the amount of heating. Regardless of whether the indoor temperature was high or low, it was due
to positive control by the users according to their actual demand.
Moreover, since the individual control mode is directly related to
heating costs, it stimulated peoples adaptive behavior: when people felt a little bit cold, they chose to wear more clothing to improve
their thermal sensation, rather than immediately increasing the
temperature setting.
The mechanism of the impact of individual control on thermal
comfort was discussed in terms of adaptation. Previously, this sort
of discussion mostly focused on warm climate issues. This paper
supports the results of previous research with a winter study on
heating control. In summary, individual control of HVAC systems
can lead to superior thermal comfort compared to the central control mode by means of psychological and behavioral adaptation
procedures.
Recently, there have been increasing requests for heating in
the HSCW zone in China. Choosing an appropriate heating type is
quite important, for it should meet the occupants thermal comfort
demand and consume as little energy as possible. The authors hope
this study can serve as a reference for decision makers and designers, both in China and around the world. Regretfully, the current
sample size of the on-site survey shown in this paper is not quiet
big. However, this sort of studies has been planned to go on for
longer time and involve a larger quantity of samples. The authors
are looking forward to share the further results with colleagues in
the society.

Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science
Foundation (2013M530633), and by the Natural Science Foundation of China (50838003).

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