Toward interoperable indoor thermal physiology research in the built environment: An interpretive framework for physiological measurement and metadata architecture

Source abstract

Physiological measurements are increasingly incorporated into indoor thermal comfort research, yet the field lacks shared documentation structures capable of making datasets from heterogeneous laboratories mutually interpretable. Fragmentation across mechanistic, measurement, descriptive, integrative, reproducibility, and cross-domain layers limits cross-study comparison and constrains cumulative physiological evidence generation. This paper diagnoses the structural sources of that fragmentation and proposes a framework for methodological coherence in indoor thermal physiology research. An empirical metadata analysis of 273 published indoor thermal physiology studies (295 unique experiments) tests these fragmentation types directly and provides the basis for the framework design. Across the literature, reporting was substantially more consistent for the existence of measurements than for the contextual, anatomical, temporal, and analytical information required for physiological interpretation. Key descriptors including session timing, participant modifiers, anatomical specificity, and data accessibility were inconsistently documented. In response, a structured framework is proposed comprising three complementary components: physiological signal documentation addressing mechanistic rationale, sensing principles, anatomical specification, cross-method comparability, biological modifiers, and data handling; an interpretive interoperability infrastructure comprising harmonised notation, standardisation of derived metrics, controlled vocabulary, and anatomical reference taxonomy; and a hierarchical metadata architecture separating experiment-, participant-, session-, and sensor-level descriptors into tiered structures. The framework is accompanied by a version-controlled open repository designed for iterative refinement and stable citation. The objective is not methodological standardisation through uniform protocols, but documentation alignment that makes heterogeneous practices interpretable. By consolidating established physiological knowledge into structured and explicitly reasoned form, the framework aims to support cumulative, interoperable physiological evidence generation for indoor environmental research.