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Cited by 636Building Energy and Comfort OptimizationUrban Heat Island MitigationBuilding energy efficiency and sustainability

The DOI matches its Crossref record.

Adaptive Thermal Comfort: Principles and Practice

Nicol, Fergus, Humphreys, Michael, Roaf, Susan·2012·Routledge eBooks
DOI 10.4324/9780203123010
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Abstract

The fundamental function of buildings is to provide safe and healthy shelter. For the fortunate they also provide comfort and delight. In the twentieth century comfort became a 'product' produced by machines and run on cheap energy. In a world where fossil fuels are becoming ever scarcer and more expensive, and the climate more extreme, the challenge of designing comfortable buildings today requires a new approach. This timely book is the first in a trilogy from leaders in the field which will provide just that. It explains, in a clear and comprehensible manner, how we stay comfortable by using our bodies, minds, buildings and their systems to adapt to indoor and outdoor conditions which change with the weather and the climate. The book is in two sections. The first introduces the principles on which the theory of adaptive thermal comfort is based. The second explains how to use field studies to measure thermal comfort in practice and to analyze the data gathered. Architects have gradually passed responsibility for building performance to service engineers who are largely trained to see comfort as the ‘product’, designed using simplistic comfort models. The result has contributed to a shift to buildings that use ever more energy. A growing international consensus now calls for low-energy buildings. This means designers must first produce robust, passive structures that provide occupants with many opportunities to make changes to suit their environmental needs. Ventilation using free, natural energy should be preferred and mechanical conditioning only used when the climate demands it. This book outlines the theory of adaptive thermal comfort that is essential to understand and inform such building designs. This book should be required reading for all students, teachers and practitioners of architecture, building engineering and management – for all who have a role in producing, and occupying, twenty-first century adaptive, low-carbon, comfortable buildings.

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Metadata

Authors
Nicol, F., Humphreys, M., & Roaf, S.
ORCID
Venue
Routledge eBooks
Publisher
Routledge
Published
2012-03-15
DOI
10.4324/9780203123010
OpenAlex
W2617826277
Cited by
636
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 24 · 2025: 50 · 2024: 55 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 61 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 72 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 46 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 6
FWCI
42.38
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion)
  • Andalas University Repository (Andalas University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Urban Heat Island Mitigation
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Building energy efficiency and sustainability
Keywords
adaptive thermal comfort, occupant behavior, passive building design, low-energy buildings, low-carbon buildings, natural ventilation, mechanical conditioning, building energy efficiency, climate change adaptation, occupant comfort

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