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Building and Environment 43 (2008) 15551565 www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv

Effect of posture on the heat transfer areas of the human body

Yoshihito Kurazumia,, Tadahiro Tsuchikawab,1, Naoki Matsubarac,2, Tetsumi Horikoshid,3
a

Department of Socio-environmental Design, Faculty of Infrastructural Technologies, Hiroshima International University, 5-1-1, Hirokosingai, Kure, Hiroshima 737-0112, Japan b School of Human Science and Environment, University of Hyogo, 1-1-12, Hon-cho, Shinzaike, Himeji, Hyogo 670-0092, Japan c Department of Environmental Design, Kyoto Prefectural University, Nakaragi-cho, Shimogamo, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8522, Japan d Nagare College, Graduate School of Nagoya Institute of Technology, Gokiso-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya 466-8555, Japan Received 15 February 2007; received in revised form 27 August 2007; accepted 24 September 2007

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to measure the heat transfer areas of the human body and to examine the effect of posture on these values, which is necessary data for calculating heat exchange between the human body and its environment. The total surface area of a subjects body was measured directly. Then, the convective heat transfer area, radiative heat transfer area and conductive heat transfer area were measured for the same subject in 9 postures: standing, chair sitting, seiza sitting, cross-legged sitting, sideways sitting, both-knees-erect sitting, legs-out sitting, lateral position and supine. The ratios of the radiative heat transfer area, convective heat transfer area ratio and conductive heat transfer area to body surface area were as follows: Standing, 0.942, 0.773, 0.013; chair sitting, 0.910, 0.732, 0.008; seiza sitting, 0.853, 0.621, 0.013; cross-legged sitting, 0.843, 0.606, 0.029; sideways sitting, 0.877, 0.634, 0.030; both-knees-erect sitting, 0.865, 0.609, 0.023; legs-out sitting, 0.878, 0.686, 0.038; lateral position, 0.879, 0.712, 0.039; and supine, 0.811, 0.708, 0.100. Posture was shown to have a noticeable effect on the heat transfer areas of the human body. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Heat transfer area; Posture; Heat exchange; Convection; Radiation; Conduction

1. Introduction To date, existing research into the effects of the thermal environment on the human body has mainly examined light work performed in an ofce environment. Most of that research is concerned with the appropriate settings for ofce air conditioning systems; inevitably, these impose a large number of conditions, including assumptions on the postures adopted by the occupants. In contrast to the passive environment in a laboratory space, however, an active living space environment has a much higher number of degrees of freedom. This means that the inhabitants must use behavioral thermoregulation, which itself can
Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 823 73 8237; fax: +81 823 73 8252.

E-mail addresses: kurazumi@it.hirokoku-u.ac.jp (Y. Kurazumi), tad@hept.himeji-tech.ac.jp (T. Tsuchikawa), n_mats@kpu.ac.jp (N. Matsubara), horikoshi.tetsumi@nitech.ac.jp (T. Horikoshi). 1 Tel.: +81 792 92 9378; fax: +81 792 93 5710. 2 Tel./fax: +81 75 703 5426. 3 Tel.: +81 52 735 5509; fax: +81 52 735 5568. 0360-1323/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2007.09.001

affect the environment. One aspect of this is the variation in rate of heat exchange between the body and the environment when a person changes his posture. In other words, as a matter of course, people in a living space adopt quite a range of postures. The heat exchange conditions posed by different postures needs to be investigated in order to account for postures in the design of living spaces. The development of computers has enabled designers to move experiments from the realm of actual living spaces to virtual living spaces. However, few virtual space experiments have incorporated the density of postures, or of other variables, that are possible in actual environments. Another desirable and essential development is to express the temperature in terms of the perceived temperature, as well as in terms of the air temperature. However, there are very few simulations, which address perceived temperature with respect to the subjects posture. Perceived temperature is a function of many elements of the thermal environment. That function is based on the heat balance equation, which expresses the heat balance between the human body and

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the surrounding environment. The heat balance equation for the human body is known as the law of heat transfer, but many of the engineering data of the human body included in this law remain to be determined. Experiments with a large number of subjects should be conducted to calculate these thermal quantities. One piece of engineering data that is not incorporated in the design of living spaces is the heat transfer area of the human body. This quantity is affected by the total surface area of the body, the convective heat transfer area, the radiative heat transfer area and the conductive heat transfer area. Usually, the heat quantity used in the heat balance of the human body has been normalized to the total body surface area. Studies of the total surface area of the human body are divided into actual measurements and calculations. The former make up only a small fraction of the studies. Many studies have been conducted since Funkes [1] measurements of surface area. Dubois [2] expression for calculating body surface area has been widely employed. However, Dubois only used 12 subjects for his expression [3,4]. He assumed left-right symmetry and measured only half the body area of some subjects; in others, he compared his results only to measurements of certain body parts. Fujimoto and Watanabes [5] equation for calculation of total body surface area has been widely used in Japan. The shape, height and weight of the Japanese body has changed substantially, however, due to changes in eating habits and living situation, and the data on which they based their expression are quite obsolete. Kurazumi et al. [6] compared the results of Dubois [2] equation for body area with those of Fujimoto et al. [5], those of the expression developed by Kurazumi himself [7], and actual measurements of Japanese peoples body areas. They showed that Kurazumis expression was the most accurate for estimating the changing Japanese body area. Heat exchange due to conduction comprises a small proportion of the total heat balance of the human body, and so little research has addressed this area. In contrast to their behavior in ofce spaces, people often sit or lie in direct contact with the oor in living spaces. Previous research has neglected this contact area between the human body and the oor, assuming it to be a negligibly small fraction of the body surface area and approximating it as radiative heat transfer according to the law of solid angle projection. It has been shown [8,9], however, that heat transfer due to conduction cannot be neglected for certain postures. Kurazumi et al. [915] and Miyamoto et al. [16] published results for the conductive heat transfer area between the oor and the human body. Kurazumi et al. dened the postures (standing, chair sitting, seiza sitting, cross-legged sitting, sideway sitting, both-knees-erect sitting, legs-out sitting, lateral and supine) commonly adopted in living spaces and measured their conductive areas. Miyamoto et al. took measurements for other postures, but did not actually dene postures.

There have been very few studies on the convective heat transfer area of the human body, since it is assumed that the entire body must be exposed to air currents and because measurements are difcult. Buttner [17] and Kurazumi et al. [13,14] have suggested specic values. Buttner [17] estimated a value of 0.80 for the convective heat transfer area ratio (convective heat transfer area/total body surface area) in the supine position. Kurazumi et al. [13,14] dened an effective thermal convection area factor for the heat transfer area ratio, and measured values for this factor for each of the following: standing, chair sitting, seiza sitting, cross-legged sitting, sideways sitting, bothknees-erect sitting, legs-out sitting, lateral position and supine. Formerly, it was assumed that the entire body is exposed to air currents, but measurements have shown that even in standing or chair sitting postures, much of the area of the body is sheltered from currents. Research into the radiative heat transfer area of the human body has focused on the effective thermal radiation area. Bohnencamp and Pasquarys [18] leading study on the effective thermal radiation area of a naked body in standing position is widely cited. However, all these studies combine the heat conducted through the feet into the effective radiation area. Guilbert and Taylor [19] were the rst to study the effective thermal radiation area of the naked human body in a sitting position, and have been referenced by many other researchers. As in the standing case mentioned above, however, contacts with the oor and seat surfaces were handled in terms of the effective thermal radiation area. Other postures have partly been quantied. Effective thermal radiation areas for the naked body have been found for the seiza sitting position by Kurazumi et al. [11], for the cross-legged sitting position by Miyamoto et al. [20], for the sideways sitting position by Kurazumi et al. [15], for the standing and both-knees-erect sitting positions by Miyamoto et al. [20], for the legs-out sitting position by Kurazumi et al. [15], for the lateral position by Miyamoto et al. [20] and Kurazumi et al. [15], and for the supine position by Kurazumi et al. [15]. However, there were some differences in handling of the heat transfer for contact with the oor, assuming radiation or conduction. Thus, the heat transfer area of the human body has been investigated through various transfer pathways, but aside from the radiative heat transfer areas proposed for the standing and sitting positions, there has been extremely little research into other postures and heat transfer pathways. In addition, none of the reports provide measurements of the same person in different positions. In order to compare between builds and body types, it is necessary to establish a standard value for the heat transfer area of the human body, but very few studies have made the necessary measurements to quantify this. None have addressed the radiative heat transfer area of the body.

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Therefore, the present research is an attempt to establish a standard for the heat transfer area of the human body with respect to the environment. Values for the total surface area, convective heat transfer area, radiative heat transfer area and conductive heat transfer area of the human body were measured as basic data for a heat balance equation, to be developed later, for calculating heat exchange between the human body and its environment. Another goal was to nd differences between the areas for different postures and to gain understanding of the relations between these parameters. As only one subject was used in this study, we believe the new data is very instructive. 2. Experimental design Experiments were carried out with the subject in the standing, chair sitting, seiza sitting, cross-legged sitting, sideways sitting, both-knees-erect sitting, legs-out sitting, lateral and supine positions as dened by Kurazumi et al. [13] (see Fig. 1). The subject had shaved all body hair except for that on the head and wore briefs, so was nearly nude during the measurements. The effect of hair is to increase the total surface area of the body, and because its effect on measurements is difcult to account for, the subject wore a silicone swimming cap. The denition of each heat transfer area was as follows. The radiative heat transfer area of a human body was dened as a human body surface area related to radiant heat exchange between a human body and an indoor space composition face. Radiant heat transfer area is the total body surface area, excluding areas of contact between body surfaces and body surface areas of mutual radiation. A chair, for example, blocks heat radiation between an indoor space composition face and a human body. Body surface area was measured by ignoring this blocking. Considering the amount of heat transfer to be small where a human body contacts the oor, oor contact area has so far been processed as a radiant heat transfer area. To be more precise, radiation and conduction should be distin-

guished to calculate the amount of heat exchange between a human body and an ambient environment. The convective heat transfer area of a human body was dened as the maximum human body surface area exposable to human currents. Convective heat transfer area is conjectured to differ under the inuences of air current velocity, air current direction, and body hair. Irrespective of the air current velocity or air current direction, uniform convective heat exchange must be assumed throughout the surface of an object even when calculating the amount of convective heat exchange and the convective heat transfer rate locally. To accumulate basic data based on this assumption, the author measured the maximum body surface area exposable to air currents by eliminating the inuences of air current properties due to the location and amount of body hair and boundary layer thickness. The conductive heat transfer area of a human body was dened as a body surface area contacting an indoor space composition face like the oor. As mentioned in the section on radiant heat transfer area above, the human ambient environment was set where blocking with an indoor space composition face would not be considered. Heat exchange between a human body and chair face was therefore not handled in heat balance. 2.1. Method for measuring total body surface area Body surface area was directly measured by attaching surgical tape directly to the body surface and calculating the area of the tape [7]. Non-woven surgical tape (Nichiban, White Tape 21N, widths 12, 25, 50, 75 mm) was attached in an overlapping manner. The overlapping portions were marked with an oil marker and then the tape was carefully removed, one piece at a time, and attached to Kent paper. The area of the nonoverlapping parts of the tape was measured with a digitizer (Graphtec, KD4310, reading precision of 0.025 mm) and the total area was calculated in a program written by the researchers.

Standing

Chair sitting

Seiza sitting

Cross-legged sitting

Sideway sitting

Both-knees-erect sitting

Leg-out sitting

Lateral

Supine

Fig. 1. Experimental postures.

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The external auditory meatus was excluded from the measurements for the safety of the subject. 2.2. Method for measuring conductive heat transfer area

front and back planes were placed 1.0 m in front of and behind the origin. For the lateral and supine positions, they were placed 1.5 m in front of and behind the origin. 2.5. Subject

A transparent lm tracing method [10] was used to measure conduction between the body surface and the oor. An acrylic plate was placed on the oor, a transparent lm was laid on top of it, and the outline of the region of contact between the subject and the lm was traced onto the lm while the subject lay in a constant position. The region around the subject was marked with ink to make the contact section easier to distinguish. This area was measured in the same way as that used for measuring the total body surface area [7]. 2.3. Method for measuring convective heat transfer area Kurazumi et al.s methods [13] were used to measure the convective heat transfer area. In order to extract the body surface area that does not contribute to convective heat transfer, the subjects body was painted with blue watersoluble paint using typical painting equipment for watersoluble paints (Liquitex, Acrylic gauche, Crimson 5.1R 4.0/ 13.6) including an air brush (Toricon, handpiece Y300) and an air compressor (Toricon, Mini-compressor 168). The subject was sprayed from all directions in order to avoid missing any areas. It was assumed that uncolored portions of the body did not contribute to convective heat transfer. The extracted area was measured in the same way as that used for measuring the total body surface area [7]. 2.4. Method for measuring radiative heat transfer area This measurement was conducted by a photographic method, with an orthographic sheye lens (OP Fisheye Nikkor 10 mm f/5.6) and a 35 mm single-lens reex camera (Nikon F4) to obtain an orthographic projection based on the law of solid angle projection, as in the method used by Horikoshi et al. [21]. The origin for the measurement coordinate system was the intersection of a vertical line passing 0.1 m behind the subjects navel with the oor. The measurement positions were dened in a 0.5 m 0.5 m lattice on the oor from the origin. In order to obtain measurements from all around the body, an acrylic plinth was constructed for the subject to stand on, and measurements from beneath the body were conducted on a plane 0.5 m below the feet. The planes for measurement consisted of the rectangular planes for the front, back, right side, left side, oor and ceiling. Measurements from the ceiling were taken in a plane 2.5 m above the origin and parallel to the oor. The left and right side planes intersected the frontal plane to the left and right of the origin. For the positions of standing, chair sitting, seiza sitting, cross-legged sitting, sideways sitting, both-knees-erect sitting, and legs-out sitting, the

The subject was a 30-year-old male in good health at the time of measurements. He was 174.80 cm tall and weighed 62.978 kg. His Rohrer index was 117.91, a standard build. Prior to the study, the measurements involved were thoroughly explained to the subject and his consent to participate in the present study was obtained. 3. Experimental results 3.1. Results of measurements of total body surface area The total body surface area of the subject was 18116.2 cm2. The subjects parameters were compared to the predictions of Kurazumis equation [7] for total body surface area, which have been conrmed experimentally [6]; this subjects body surface area was 2.1% greater than predicted. 3.2. Results of measurements of conductive heat transfer area Fig. 2 shows the traced lines of contact area between the body surface and the oor. Table 1 shows the ndings for conductive heat transfer area. The greatest value was observed in the supine position, 1816.5 cm2, and the lowest, in the chair sitting posture, 152.3 cm2. The area in seiza sitting was 228.6 cm2. The latter value was about the same as the heat transfer area in the standing posture and was far lower than any other oor-sitting position. This was attributed to the fact that the surface of the lower halves of the legs contacts along a line to support the body. This is in contrast with other oor-sitting postures, where this part of the leg contacts across a two-dimensional area. The conductive heat transfer area from the oor with only the feet touching was 230.8 cm2. Although it was anticipated that the heat transfer area of the feet would be about the same in the standing and chair sitting positions, it turned about to be larger in the standing position. When sitting in a chair, the body is mainly supported by the buttocks and the back of the thighs, which are in contact with the chair, and only the weight of the lower legs is supported by the feet. When standing, all the body weight is carried by the feet. Thus, as Kurazumi et al. [10,12,14] pointed out, the difference in area is the effect of the reduced weight placed on the feet. As stated above, the present research treats the radiative heat transfer area as an area parameter of the human body related to heat exchange between the body and planes in space representing the environment. Heat conducted between the body and the chair is not investigated, but the conductive heat transfer area between the body and an

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Standing

Chair sitting

Seiza sitting

Cross-legged sitting

Sideway sitting

Both-knees-erect sitting

Leg-out sitting

Lateral

Supine

Fig. 2. Traced lines of contact area.

Table 1 Results of heat transfer area of the human body Heat transfer area Acov [ 10 m ] Arad [ 104 m2] Acod [ 104 m2]
4 2

Standing 17 062.2 14 009.1 230.8

Chair 16 494.6 13 264.5 152.3

Seiza 15 445.5 11 244.1 228.6

Cross 15 265.8 10 973.8 527.5

Sideway 15 882.8 11 490.0 536.9

Knee 15 667.8 11 037.9 413.6

Leg-out 15 906.0 12 427.7 697.1

Lateral 15 929.9 12 900.1 714.8

Supine 14 700.6 12 828.1 1816.5

Acov is convective heat transfer area of the human body. Arad is radiative heat transfer area of the human body. Acod is conductive heat transfer area of the human body. Standing is standing position. Chair is the chair sitting position taken into account the contact area without the area of contact between the body and the chair. Seiza is seiza sitting position. Cross is cross-legged sitting position. Sideway is sideway sitting position. Knee is both-knees-erect sitting position. Leg-out is leg-out sitting position. Lateral is lateral position. Supine is supine position.

ofce chair was measured to establish a reference value. The same method as described in Kurazumi et al. [13] for the convective heat transfer area was used in order to extract the conductive heat transfer areas at the seat and at the back. Those areas were 625.8 and 300.6 cm2, respectively.

3.3. Results of measurement of convective heat transfer area Table 1 shows the results for convective heat transfer area. The greatest value was observed in the standing position, 17,062.2 cm2, and the lowest, in the supine position, 14,700.6 cm2.

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The oor sitting positions, i.e., seiza, cross-legged, sideways and both-knees-erect, showed lower areas, due to the fact that the legs are together in these postures. Specically, the thighs or lower legs are pressed against each other, against other body parts or against the oor, which greatly inuences the results. The convective heat transfer area in the supine position, in which the back is pressed against the oor, showed an even lower value than the oor sitting postures. Comparing the supine and standing positions, comparatively similar in terms of the posture of the body, we nd that the heat transfer areas differ by some 2361.6 cm2. In the previous measurements for conduction, we found a difference between the two of 1585.7 cm2. Thus, the difference between the two postures in convective heat transfer area can be ascribed to the high conductive heat transfer area with the oor. 3.4. Results for measurements of radiative heat transfer area Nearly all the existing research has assumed that the contact area between the human body and the oor is so small that conductive heat transfer can be neglected. However, Kurazumi et al.s [9] research into the heat balance of the human body on a heated oor showed that conduction in oor sitting (cross-legged, sideways and legsout) and lying positions actually dominates the heat exchange. Therefore, in this research, the radiative heat transfer area was assumed to be the surface area of the human body involved in radiative heat transfer with the planes of the surrounding space. Chairs and other objects that can obstruct radiation to and from the environment were neglected. Table 1 shows the measurement results for radiative heat transfer area. The posture with the highest area was standing, at 17,062.2 cm2, and the lowest was cross-legged sitting, at 10,973.8 cm2. Postures in which the lower extremities are close to the trunk (seiza and cross-legged sitting, in which the lower legs are placed together, and sideways and both-knees-erect sitting postures) gave lower radiation heat transfer areas than other postures. This can be attributed to large radiation interchange and conductive heat transfer between the different parts of the body. All of the postures showed much lower areas of radiative heat transfer than convective heat transfer. As mentioned above, this seems to be due to radiation interchange and conductive heat transfer between the different parts of the body. 4. Discussion The heat transfer area of the human body varies with the persons build, body type and other variables. On the other hand, Tsuchikawa et al. [22] made comparative study of the thermal radiation areas of the human body divided by the subjects total body surface area. And, it is claried to the

data that the inuence of the physique and the gure is hardly admitted. Therefore, the observed heat transfer areas were divided by the subjects total body surface area to obtain the heat transfer area ratios, in order to allow comparison between this subject and future subjects with other builds and body types.

4.1. Discussion on conductive heat transfer area Table 2 compares the conductive heat transfer area ratio with previous research results. The ratio was about 1% for the standing, chair sitting and seiza sitting positions. For the both-knees-erect position, it was about 2.3%. This result is similar to those reported by Kurazumi et al. [1014] and Miyamoto et al. [16]. Kurazumi et al. [9,10,12] classied the conductive heat transfer areas using cluster analysis and set a conductive heat transfer area ratio of 2.5% for the total body surface area as a standard for determining whether heat exchange can be calculated or not in analysis of the heat balance of the human body. Exchange was not calculated for all pathways in this research, but the ratios found here conform well with these researchers results. The other oor sitting positions showed conductive heat transfer area ratios of about 34%. For legs-out sitting, nearly the same result was obtained as that of Kurazumi et al. [13], but other results were lower than those of Kurazumi et al. [10,1315] and Miyamoto et al. [16]. The exibility of the body will affect the results for the legs-out sitting posture. As Kurazumi et al. [10,12] pointed out, when less exible subjects stretch their back muscles in this position, they tend to bend their knees, drawing their thighs and lower legs away from contact with the oor. This would also be affected by the thigh circumference, the calf circumference and the hip circumference. The results for conductive heat transfer area ratio in this research appear to have been reduced by the subjects lack of exibility. The conductive heat transfer area ratio in the lateral position was close to the ratio found by Kurazumi et al. [13,15], but was much smaller than the results of Kurazumi et al. [1012]. One of those studies [12] made a comparison between subjects of different builds; at higher weights, a signicantly higher conductive heat transfer area ratio existed between the trunk and upper extremities. The study also pointed to scatter in the conductive heat transfer area ratios of different parts of the body due to variations in the lines of support of the body and in the location of the center of mass. The results for the lateral posture given in the present research also t within the suggested data [12]. The results for the supine posture match well with Miyamoto et al.s [16] ndings. As mentioned above, the subjects chest circumference, abdominal circumference, hip circumference, thigh circumference and calf circumference affect heat exchange parameters. Future studies should take such measurements from many subjects.

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Y. Kurazumi et al. / Building and Environment 43 (2008) 15551565 Table 2 Comparison of conductive heat transfer area ratio in the previous studies Investigator Standing Chair Seiza Cross Sideway Knee Leg-out Lateral Supine Number of subject Male Kurazumi et al. [10] Kurazumi et al. [11] Kurazumi et al. [12] Miyamoto et al. [16] Kurazumi et al. [6] Kurazumi et al. [14] Kurazumi et al. [15] Kurazumi et al. [15] Kurazumi et al. [15] Kurazumi et al. [15] Authors 0.0132 0.0138 0.0129 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.013 0.0094 0.0105 0.0084 0.010 0.003 0.008 0.008 0.0162 0.0163 0.0224 0.015 0.014 0.016 0.013 0.0315 0.0424 0.028 0.027 0.029 0.029 0.0487 0.031 0.037 0.054 0.030 0.0219 0.0271 0.020 0.019 0.022 0.023 0.0458 0.0590 0.048 0.039 0.044 0.064 0.038 0.0523 0.0762 0.0638 0.044 0.049 0.042 0.039 0.090 0.059 0.084 0.067 0.100 15 1 13 1 3 1 1 1 Female 15 13 3 1 1 1561

Conductive heat transfer area ratio is the ratio of the area of contact between the body surface and the oor and chair to the total body surface area. Standing is standing position. Chair is the chair sitting position taken into account the contact area without the area of contact between the body and the chair. Seiza is seiza sitting position. Cross is cross-legged sitting position. Sideway is sideway sitting position. Knee is both-knees-erect sitting position. Leg-out is leg-out sitting position. Lateral is lateral position. Supine is supine position. Table 3 Comparison of convective heat transfer area ratio in the previous studies Investigator Standing Chair Seiza Cross Sideway Knee Leg-out Lateral Supine Number of subject Male Buttner [17] Kurazumi et al. [6] Kurazumi et al. [14] Authors 0. 92 0.942 0.942 0.87 0.918 0.910 0.79 0.818 0.853 0.83 0.843 0.843 0.81 0.855 0.877 0.89 0.887 0.865 0.90 0.906 0.878 0.87 0.877 0.879 0.80 0.86 0.844 0.811 1 3 1 Female 3

Convective heat transfer area ratio is the ratio of the convective heat transfer area to the total body surface area. Standing is standing position. Chair is the chair sitting position taken into account the contact area without the area of contact between the body and the chair. Seiza is seiza sitting position. Cross is cross-legged sitting position. Sideway is sideway sitting position. Knee is both-knees-erect sitting position. Leg-out is leg-out sitting position. Lateral is lateral position. Supine is supine position.

4.2. Discussion on the convective heat transfer area ratio Table 3 compares the convective heat transfer area ratio with previous results. The convective heat transfer area ratio for the standing posture, which is generally used in physiological studies and investigations in thermal environments, was 0.942; the value was 0.910 for chair sitting. These two postures are frequently used to conduct physiological experiments and calculating thermal environment indices, and they are considered open body positions. However, even with these postures, about 69% of the body surface did not transfer heat by convection. The above values t well with those of Kurazumi et al. [13,14]. The convective heat transfer area ratios we found for the oor sitting positions of seiza and cross-legged sitting where the legs come in contact with each other were larger than those found by Kurazumi et al. [13,14]. Also, the ratios for the both-knees-erect and legs-out sitting were lower than those reported [13,14]. The actually measured values showed differences, but the convective heat transfer area ratios for seiza and cross-legged sitting were lower

than those for sideways, both-knees-erect and legs-out sitting. This trend generally matched that found by Kurazumi et al. [13,14]. The fact that the results for the conductive heat transfer area ratio (Table 2) were nearly the same as those of Kurazumi et al. [13,14] was attributed to considerable inuence from the contact between the thighs and calves. The convective heat transfer area ratio for the supine position, when the back is in contact with the oor, was 0.811, lower than that published by Kurazumi et al. [13,14] and about the same as that found by Buttner [17]. The conductive heat transfer area ratio (Table 2) was higher than that found by Kurazumi et al. [13,14] and the difference may well be attributable to the inuence of convective heat transfer area ratios.

4.3. Discussion on radiative heat transfer area Table 4 compares the radiative heat transfer area ratio with previous ndings. Predicted values for the conduction across the contact surface between the subjects bodies and

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1562 Y. Kurazumi et al. / Building and Environment 43 (2008) 15551565 Table 4 Comparison of radiative heat transfer area ratio in the previous studies Investigator Standing Chair Seiza Cross Sideway Knee Leg-out Lateral Supine Number of subject Male Bohnenkamp and Pasquay [18] Bandow and Bohnenkamp [23] Bedford [24] Hardy and DuBios [25] Guibert and Taylor [19] Guibert and Taylor [19] Fanger et al.[26] Horikoshi and Kobayashi [32] Kakitsuba et al. [33] Tsuchikawa et al. [22] Horikoshi et al. [27] Tsuchikawa et al. [28] Miyamoto et al. [20] Miyamoto et al. [20] Mizutani et al. [36] Kakitsuba and Suzuki [29] Kakitsuba and Suzuki [29] Kurazumi et al. [12] Tomita et al. [30] Miyamoto et al. [31] Tomita and Miyamoto [34] Miyamoto et al. [35] Kurazumi et al. [15] Kurazumi et al. [15] Kurazumi et al. [15] Kurazumi et al. [15] Authors Authors (0.83) (0.83)a (0.83)a (0.78)a (0.77)a (0.73)a (0.80)a (0.80)a (0.77)a (0.76)a (0.75)a (0.79) (0.786)a 0.773
a

female 30 26 10 1 3 3 3 1 1

(0.70)a (0.70)a (0.75)a (0.70)a (0.74)a (0.74)a (0.71) a (0.71) a (0.73)a (0.76)a (0.741)a 0.732

0.64 (0.633)a 0.621

0.64 (0635)a 0.606

0.613 (0.664)a 0.634

0.62 (0.632)a 0.609

0.642 (0.724)a 0.686

(0 79)a 0.722 (0.752)a 0.712

0.792 (0.808)a 0.708

31 42 2 2 3 1 10 1 5 4 4 3 1 2 2 1 3 3 1 1 1 1

Radiative heat transfer area ratio is the ratio of the radiative heat transfer area to the total body surface area. Standing is standing position. Chair is the chair sitting position taken into account the contact area without the area of contact between the body and the chair. Seiza is seiza sitting position. Cross is cross-legged sitting position. Sideway is sideway sitting position. Knee is both-knees-erect sitting position. Leg-out is leg-out sitting position. Lateral is lateral position. Supine is supine position. a Value taken into account only the area of contact between the body and the oor.

the oor were also added to aid comparison with previous research. The radiative heat transfer area ratio in the standing position has been measured by many researchers as follows: Bohnenkamp and Pasquary [18], 0.83; Bandow and Bohnenkamp [23], 0.83; Bedford [24], 0.83; Hardy and DuBois [25], 0.78; Guibert and Taylor [19], 0.77; Fanger et al. [26], 0.73; Tsuchikawa et al. [22], 0.80; Horikoshi et al. [27], 0.80; Tsuchikawa et al. [28], 0.77; Kakitsuba and Suzuki [29], 0.77; Tomita et al. [30], 0.75; and Miyamoto et al. [31], 0.79. There is some scatter, due to differences in methods and posture conditions, but the reported values lie in the range 0.730.83. Furthermore, for all the papers, the conductive heat transfer area with oor was included in the radiative heat transfer area. If the conductive heat transfer area is included in the radiative heat transfer area ratio for the present data, the latter value is 0.786. The radiative heat transfer area ratio for chair sitting has been determined as follows: Guibert and Taylor [19], 0.70; Fanger et al. [26], 0.70; Horikoshi and Kobayashi [32],

0.75; Kakitsuba et al. [33], 0.70; Tsuchikawa et al. [22], 0.74; Horikoshi et al. [27], 0.74; Tsuchikawa et al. [28], 0.71; Kakitsuba and Suzuki [29], 0.71; Tomita and Miyamoto [34], 0.73; and Miyamoto et al. [35], 0.76. There is some scatter, due to differences in methods and posture conditions, but the reported values lie in the range 0.700.76. In all these previous papers, the conductive heat transfer area with the oor was included in the radiative heat transfer area. If the conductive heat transfer area is included in the radiative heat transfer area ratio from the present data, the latter value is 0.741. Very few reports have described other postures. Kurazumi et al. [11] measured the radiative heat transfer area ratio of seiza sitting at 0.64. The value determined in the present study was 0.621. Miyamoto et al. [20] found a value of 0.64 for the radiative heat transfer area ratio of crosslegged sitting; that was indicated as 0.606 in the present study. Kurazumi et al. [15] found a value of 0.613 for the radiative heat transfer area ratio in sideways sitting, in comparison to this studys nding of 0.634. Miyamoto et

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al. [20] announced a value of 0.62 for the radiative heat transfer area ratio of both-knees-erect sitting; this value was 0.609 in this study. Let us compare the values for radiative heat transfer area ratio using those combined with conductive heat transfer area: Guilbert and Taylor [19] reported that the lowest value was obtained in the crouching posture, while Kurazumi et al. [11,15] reported the lowest value for seiza and sideway sitting and Miyamoto et al. [20] for bothknees-erect and cross-legged sitting. The present study found that the radiative heat transfer area ratio was considerably lower in seiza, cross-legged, sideways and both-knees-erect sitting than in any other postures. Bedfords lowest measurement for radiative heat transfer area ratio was 0.66, for crouching [24]. The similarity of these postures can be expected to impact the magnitude of the areas observed. The low values found for both-knees-erect sitting can be attributed to the similarity of this posture to crouching. Also, since seiza sitting can be viewed as a posture in which the lower legs are pressed rmly against the thighs, the areas of the calf and the back of the thigh contribute nothing to the radiative surface of the body, reducing the radiative heat transfer area. In the sideways sitting position, the lower legs are extended somewhat forward of the seiza position; this could be considered as the lower legs protruding from the trunk, so it is not surprising that this posture showed slightly higher radiative heat transfer area ratio values than seiza sitting. Also, since cross-legged sitting can be considered as the sideways posture with one leg turned inward instead of outward, the similar radiative heat transfer area ratio values for these positions are not unexpected. Kurazumi et al. [15] published a value of 0.642 for the radiative heat transfer area ratio of the legs-out sitting position. The present study obtained a higher value of 0.686. If the conductive heat transfer area is added, it represents a difference of 0.018, which is small. Kurazumi et al.s [15] value for the latter quantity was 0.026, larger than the value found in the present study. Therefore, it is likely that the difference between this study and Kurazumi et al. [15] originated from the conductive heat transfer area. Legs-out sitting can be viewed as chair sitting with the legs extended. When the conductive heat transfer area values are added for both positions, their composite values are about the same. The value for legs-out sitting is slightly lower due to the inuence of radiation interchange between the upper and lower bodies. For the lateral posture, Mizutani et al. [36] found a value of 0.79 for the radiative heat transfer area ratio, while Kurazumi et al. [15] indicated a value of 0.722. Mizutani et al.s value was a composite with the conductive heat transfer area. The present study found a value of 0.712, similar to Kurazumi et al.s [15] measurement. Kurazumi et al. [15] also reported a radiative heat transfer area ratio for the supine posture of 0.792; the present study measured this at 0.708, considerably lower.

Kurazumi et al. [15] calculated the radiative heat transfer area ratio, using Kurazumi et al.s [7] equation for total body surface area, while the present study used the measured total body surface area. Kurazumi et al. [6] referred to the difference between their calculated value for total body surface area and the area found for a tall, slim Japanese which Kurazumi et al. [7] had reported earlier, and stated that variation from the measured total body surface area tended to increase with time. Since the subject in the present study was of a typical size, the prominent difference between Kurazumi et al.s result [15] and the present study may well be due to the difference between their calculated area and the actual measured area in the present study. Also, the conductive heat transfer area ratio mentioned earlier for the supine position (Table 2) was different from Kurazumi et al.s nding [15] by 0.33. The larger ratio measured in the present study may also be connected with this difference. The lying positions are similar to the standing position, except for the higher contact with the oor. As mentioned earlier, the radiative heat transfer area ratio was measured in the range 0.730.83. The values for the lateral and supine positions, when adjusted to remove the effect of conductive heat transfer, are nearly the same as that for standing. The contact area between the body and oor contributes to conductive rather than radiative heat transfer. The above results show how important it is to consider conductive heat transfer area when determining the radiative heat transfer area of the body in the lateral and supine positions, where the oor contact area is high. Also, it has been shown that postures with body surfaces in contact or facing each other due to bent joints have conspicuously lower radiative heat transfer areas than the comparatively open postures. To the extent that the subjects of an experiment are human beings, it is not possible to replicate the exact same body types and postures in future experiments. However, Miyamoto et al. [16] made comparative study of the areas of contact between the body surface and the oor by the method of directing how to take it and maintenance of posture and entrusting testee how to take it and maintenance of posture. It is claried that the reproducibility of posture is high even when measuring it by how to take it and the maintenance method of which posture. Therefore, it is thought that the tendency with similar result of this research is shown. However, it is thought that it is necessary to aim at the accumulation of data in addition and to verify it. 5. Conclusions This study focused on the heat transfer area of the human body, which is an index of heat exchange between the body and its environment. Actual measurements of a human subject were taken for the convective heat transfer area ratio, radiative heat transfer area, conductive heat transfer area, and total body surface area, previously

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1564 Y. Kurazumi et al. / Building and Environment 43 (2008) 15551565 factor of the human body. Japanese Journal of Biometeology 2003;40(1):313. Kurazumi Y, Tsuchikawa T, Matsubara N, Horikoshi T. Convection heat transfer area of the human body. European Journal of Applied Physiology 2004;93(3):27385. Kurazumi Y, Tsuchikawa T, Yamato Y, Nakaya T, Matsubara N, Horikoshi T. Radiative heat balance of the human body in radiative cooling/heating rooms. Effective radiation area factors of the human body and conguration factors between the human body and rectangular planes in sideway sitting, leg-out sitting, lateral and supine postures. Transactions of the Society of Heating, Air-conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan 2005;97: 114. Miyamoto S, Tomita A, Horikoshi T. Reproductibity of contacted surface arrea ratio of human body in various to sit directly on oor. Journal of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) 2000;532:237. Buttner K. Die Waremeubertragung durch Leitung und Konvektion, Verdunstung und Strahlung in Bioklimatologie und Meteorologie. Veroffentlichung PreuXen Meteorologie Institut Abhandlungen 1934;10(404):137. Bohnenkamp H, Pasquay W. Untersunungen zu den Grunglagen des Energie- und Stoffwechsels, III Mitteilung. Pugers Archiv fur die Gesamie Physiologie 1931;228:759. Guibert A, Taylor CL. Radiation area of the human body. Journal of Applied Physiology 1952;5:2437. Miyamoto S, Taniguchi Y, Choi Y, Tsuchikawa T, Horikoshi T. The effective radiation area and conguration factor for the person sitting on a oor. Journal of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) 1996;479:2733. Horikoshi T, Miyahara H, Kobayashi Y. Conguration factors between the human body and rectangular planes and the effective radiation area of the human body, I. Analytical theory and measurements of the sedentary and clothing subject. Transactions of AIJ 1978;268:10919. Tsuchikawa T, Kobayashi Y, Horikoshi T, Miwa E, Kurazumi Y, Hirayama K. The effective radiation area of the human body and conguration factors between the human body and rectangular planes and measured by the photographic methodmeasurement for male subjects; four combinations of nude or closed and standing or sedentary postures. Transactions of AIJ 1988;388:4859. Bandow F, Bohnenkamp H. Uer die Bestimmung der Strahlungsache des Menschen aus seiner elektrischen Kapazitat. Pugers Archiv fur die Gesamie Physiologie 1935;236:42734. Bedford T. The effective radiating surface of the human body. Journal of Hygiene 1935;35(3):3036. Hardy JD, DuBios EF. Basal metabolism, radiation, convection and vaporization at temperatures of 22 to 35 1C. Journal of Nutrition 1938;15:47797. Fanger PO, Angelius O, Jensen PK. Radiation data for the human body. ASHRAE Transactions 1970;76-II:33873. Horikoshi T, Tsuchikawa T, Kobayashi Y, Miwa E, Kurazumi Y, Hirayama K. The effective radiation area and angle factor between man and a rectangular plane near him. ASHRAE Transactions 1990;96I:606. Tsuchikawa T, Horikoshi T, Kondo E, Kurazumi Y, Hirayama K, Kobayashi Y. The effective radiation area of the human body and conguration factors between the human body and rectangular planes and measured by the photographic method. Part 2 measurement for a female and for the surface-parts of a male body. Journal of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) 1991;428:6775. Kakitsuba N, Suzuki K. The effect of clothing t on clothing area factor. Journal of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Engineering (Transactions of AIJ) 1997;500:3741. Tomita A, Miyamoto S, Horikoshi T, Kakitsuba N. The inuence of clothing t on the effective radiation areas and conguration factors of the human body. Part 1in the case of young females at standing

unknown quantities which are essential in terms of the heat balance of the human body for calculating heat exchange between the body and its environment and which have previously not all been taken into account. Engineering data for the heat transfer areas of the human body were determined for a variety of postures and posture was shown to be a dominant parameter for those areas. Although only one subject was tested, these data are a signicant addition to the literature. It is essential to gather more individual data to establish mean values for the human body. Acknowledgment We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to the study subjects who participated in the present study. References
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