THE EFFECT OF HUMAN BODY SURFACE AREA ON THERMAL COMFORT OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

The study aims to analyze the effect of the Body Surface Area (BSA) on the thermal comfort of university students. The study involved a survey to collect the weight, height, and body temperature of respondents. The survey also collected the respondents' thermal response to their environment. The survey was carried out at the Faculty of Engineering, Khairun University, Ternate, and North Maluku Province, Indonesia. A total of 180 students, from the age of 20-25 years consisting of 143 men and 37 women have participated in this study. However, 30 students are excluded from the analyses due to their body temperature exceed 37.2 °C. Generally, the women body size is relatively larger than the man. The average weight and height for adult males are 60 kg and 164.62 cm, and females are 63 kg and 158.97 cm. The average body temperature of males was 36.7 °C and females was 36.25 °C. Most of the respondents (more than 80%) felt either warm or hot. There is a linear correlation between the Body Surface Area (BSA) and the thermal sensation vote (TSV) of respondents. Respondents with larger size of body surface tend to feel hotter than the ones with smaller size of body surface.