Thermal sensation is human’s perception of the surrounding temperature

humidity

and other environments. In order to study the thermal sensation of ethnic minority groups in fluctuating climatic environments and make them adapt to different environments more quickly

the classroom environment of Dalian in winter was tested on the spot

and the clothing and thermal sensation of 80 Han students and 88 ethnic minority students (24 Hui

12 Mongol

14 Tujia

and other minorities) from different climatic zones were investigated by questionnaires. The results were analyzed by regression. The data of different ethnic minorities were compared

the reasons for the differences were analyzed

and the experimental results were verified. Results show that the comfortable temperature range of the minority students was between 18.5 ℃ and 19.4 ℃

which was different from that of Han students. According to the thermal sensory voting (TSV) model

the actual thermal neutral temperatures of students of different ethnics were 18.5 ℃ for Hui

16.9 ℃ for Mongol

and 15.0 ℃ for Tujia. The predicted mean vote (PMV) model could not accurately predict the true thermal sensation. On the basis of the thermal sensation adaptability model (aPMV)

parameter λ was put forward as a reference for all ethnicgroups

namely

Hui -0.79

Mongol -0.90

and Tujia 0.97. There were great differences in the indicators of different ethnics. It indicates that students have certain adaptability to the local climate

while studying in Dalian is accompanied by climate fluctuations

which makes students unable to adapt quickly to the new environment. Hence

the aPMV model was used to predict the thermal sensation of ethnic minority students

and a scheme of laboratory thermal reconstruction was provided.