Rethinking thermal comfort
Open accessAbstract
‘Thermal comfort’ is the term used to describe a satisfactory, stress-free thermal environment in buildings and, therefore, is a socially determined notion defined by norms and expectations. The id...
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Large variation exists in indoor thermal comfort according to different climates, times of the year, and cultures.
“Large variation exists in indoor thermal comfort according to different climates, times of the year, and cultures [23].”
From Thermal Discomfort Levels, Building Design Concepts, and Some Heat Mitigation Strategies in Low-Income Communities of a South Asian City (2021) · cites this paper as [23]
Thermal discomfort levels, building design concepts, and some heat mitigation strategies in low-income neighborhoods of cities in arid/semiarid zones of South Asia remained unreported.
“However, thermal discomfort levels, building design concepts, and some heat mitigation strategies in low-income neighborhoods of cities in arid/semiarid zones of South Asia remained unreported.”
From Thermal Discomfort Levels, Building Design Concepts, and Some Heat Mitigation Strategies in Low-Income Communities of a South Asian City (2021) · cites this paper as [23]
The EDITORIAL calls for better guidance on thermal comfort and building design, but it does not say that discomfort levels, design concepts, or heat-mitigation strategies remain unreported in low-income neighborhoods of arid or semiarid South Asian cities. Searches for that specific setting and research gap found no passage addressing it; the indexed passages provide no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.75)
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Cites
Adaptive Thermal Comfort: Principles and Practice
Nicol, F., Humphreys, M., & Roaf, S. (2012) · doi:10.4324/9780203123010 · Cited by 636 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 21
- H. B. Rijal, M. A. Humphreys and J. F. Nicol Towards an adaptive model for thermal comfort in Japanese offices 10.1080/09613218.2017.1288450 · DOI
- J. F. Nicol Temperature and adaptive comfort in heated, cooled and free-running dwellings 10.1080/09613218.2017.1283922 · DOI
- M. Schweiker and A. Wagner Influences on the predictive performance of thermal sensation indices 10.1080/09613218.2017.1256673 · DOI · Paper page
- G. Vargas, R. Lawrence and F. Stevenson The role of lobbies: short-term thermal transitions 10.1080/09613218.2017.1304095 · DOI
- C. Farnham, L. Zhang, J. Yuan, K. Emura, A. M. Alam and T. Mizuno Measurement of the evaporative cooling effect: oscillating misting fan 10.1080/09613218.2017.1278651 · DOI
- H. Pallubinsky, B. R. M. Kingma, L. Schellen, B. Dautzenberg, M. A. van Baak and W. D. van Marken Lichtenbelt The effect of warmth acclimation on behaviour, thermophysiology and perception 10.1080/09613218.2017.1278652 · DOI
- B. Kingma, M. Schweiker, A. Wagner and W. D. van Marken Lichtenbelt Exploring internal body heat balance to understand thermal sensation 10.1080/09613218.2017.1299996 · DOI
- W. D. van Marken Lichtenbelt, M. Hanssen, H. Pallubinsky, B. R. M. Kingma and L. Schellen Healthy excursions outside the thermal comfort zone 10.1080/09613218.2017.1307647 References · DOI · Paper page
- Boerstra, A., Loomans, M., & Hensen, J. (2016). Effectiveness of operable windows in office environments, Proceedings of 9th Windsor Conference: Making Comfort Relevant. London: Network for Comfort and Energy Use in Buildings. http://nceub.org.uk.
- Chappells, H., & Shove, E. (2005). Debating the future of com- fort: Environmental sustainability, energy consumption and the indoor environment. Building Research & Information, 33(1), 32-40. doi:10.1080/0961321042000322762 · DOI
- Cole, R. J., Brown, Z., & McKay, S. (2010). Building human agency: A timely manifesto. Building Research & Information, 38(3), 339-350. doi:10.1080/096132110037 47071 · DOI
- Cole, R. J., Robinson, J., Brown, Z., & O'Shea, M. (2008). Re-con- textualizing the notion of comfort. Building Research & Information, 36(4), 323-336. doi:10.1080/09613210802076328 · DOI
- de Dear, R. (2011). Revisiting an old hypothesis of human thermal perception: Alliesthesia. Building Research and Information, 39(2), 108-117. doi:10.1080/09613218.2011. 552269 · DOI · Paper page
- Fanger, P. O. (1970). Thermal comfort. Copenhagen: Danish Technical Press.
- Farnham, C., Emura, K., & Mizuno, T. (2015). Evaluation of cooling effects: Outdoor mist fan. Building Research & Information, 43(3), 334-345. doi:10.1080/09613218.2015. 1004844 · DOI
- Humphreys, M., Nicol, F., & Roaf, S. (2016). Adaptive thermal comfort, foundations and analysis. London: Earthscan/ Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-69161-1.
- Langdon, F. J., Humphreys, M. A., & Nicol, J. F. (Eds.). (1973). Thermal comfort and moderate heat stress. Proceedings of CIB commission W45 (Human Requirements). London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office.
- Nicol, J. F., & Humphreys, M. A. (1973). Thermal comfort as part of a self-regulating system. Building Research and Practice, 6(3), 174-179. doi:10.1080/09613217308550237 · DOI
- Nicol, J. F., Raja, I. A., Allaudin, A., & Jamy, G. N. (1999). Climatic variations in comfort temperatures: The Pakistan projects. Energy and Buildings, 30(3), 261-279. (ISSN 0378-7788). doi:10.1016/S0378-7788(99)00011-0 · DOI
- Raw, G. J., & Oseland, N. A. (1994). Why another thermal com- fort conference? Thermal Comfort: Past present and future, BRE report BR264. ISBN 0-85125-633-3.
- Sharma, M. A., & Ali, S. (1986). Tropical summer index -a study of thermal comfort in Indian subjects. Building and Environment, 21(1), 11-24. doi:10.1016/0360-1323(86)90004-1 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Ehsan, S., Abbas, F., Ibrahim, M., Ahmad, B., & Farooque, A. A. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18052535 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
“Nicol and Roaf [23] explained the concepts of understanding behind the thermal relationship between people and buildings, socio-economic aspects [24], psychology [25], physiology [26] which underlies the related health effects and the ways to interpret the body’s response to the environment either as comfort or discom…”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Nicol, J. F., & Roaf, S.
- Affiliations
- School of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University
- Heriot-Watt University (GB)
- Venue
- Building Research & Information
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-03-30
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 711-716
- ISSN
- 0961-3218 (ISSN-L)
- 1466-4321
- OpenAlex
- W2601990429
- Cited by
- 133
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 2 · 2013: 1
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Building Research & Information (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building energy efficiency and sustainability
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Urban Heat Island Mitigation
- Keywords
- thermal comfort, thermal environment, buildings, social norms, expectations, perceived comfort, thermal stress
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