Thermal Comfort

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Thermal Comfort Appendices and Additional Resources

ASHRAE Standard 55 References / Resources

• ASHRAE Standard 55 Fact Sheet
• ASHRAE Standard 55 Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy
• ASHRAE Standard 55 Short Course
• ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturers on Thermal Comfort
• Thermal Comfort and its Relationship to Building Code

Media on Thermal Comfort and ASHRAE Standard 55

• ASHRAE Journal Podcast Episode 24, Thermal comfort in buildings and the application of ASHRAE Standard 55, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy, in real-world settings.
• Fundamentals of ASHRAE Standard 55, ASHRAE DL RAL Chapter (India)
• ASHRAE Journal News Letter, Don't Sweat It: Comfort Conditioning Can Increase Thermal Comfort, Decrease Energy Use  
• Wall Street Journal - WSJ Explains Why Your Office Feels So Cold  

ASHRAE Journal Articles on Thermal Comfort - General

• Temperature & Temperament: A Psychologist Looks at Comfort
• ASHRAE’s History With Thermal Comfort
• Sunlight and Indoor Thermal Comfort: Updates to Standard 55
• HVAC Applications: Compliance to Standard 55

ASHRAE Journal Articles on Thermal Comfort - Residential

• Residential Applications: Introduction to Residential IEQ  
• Thermal Comfort: Designing for People 
• Residential Applications: Introduction to Indoor Environmental Quality 
• Prioritizing Thermal Comfort for Homes: A Case Study in Using Standard 55

ASHRAE Journal Articles on Thermal Comfort - Commercial

• Thermal Comfort and Energy Analyses of a Window Retrofit with Dynamic Glazing 
• Thermal Comfort in Health Care Settings
• Applying ASHRAE Standard 55-2020: A Path to More Valuable, Productive, Ultralow Energy Office Buildings
• Thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings: revisions to ASHRAE Standard 55
• Can Current Zone Selections Provide Occupant Comfort?
• Comfort Conditioning for Large Spaces

Additional Sources

• HSE Health and Safety Executive, Thermal Comfort
• Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety
• US Occupational Safety and Health Administration
• U.S. General Services Administration
• Commonwealth of Australia, Australian Building Codes Board
• United States Environmental Protection Agency
• City of Toronto, Thermal Comfort Guidelines I Outdoors
• New South Wales: Maintaining thermal comfort in indoor work environments
• Thermal comfort prescription for cooling dominated Indian residential buildings, New Delhi: The Energy and Resources Institute
• Indoor Environmental Quality of Social Housing Buildings in British Columbia
• BC Housing Technical Bulletin No. 3 -2023
• Thermal stress in the work place Employment and Social Development Canada
• LEED Thermal Comfort Reference Guide
• The Canadian Licensed Professional’s Guide: Understanding the Roles and Requirements for Verifying Commercial Building Applications for ENERGY STAR® Certification 
• Practice Advisory Overheating Considerations For Existing Multi-unit Residential Buildings Version 1.0, Published September 1, 2022 Engineers and Geoscientists BC

Thermal Comfort Standards Worldwide

• ASHRAE Standard 55 is adopted internationally, including in the Middle East and Southeast Asia
• ISO 7730 - Ergonomics of the thermal environment — Analytical determination and interpretation of thermal comfort using calculation of the PMV and PPD indices and local thermal comfort criteria, (Europe)
• EN 16798 Indoor environmental input parameters for design and assessment of energy performance of buildings- addressing indoor air quality, thermal environment, lighting and acoustics, (Europe)
• ČSN 73 0540 Thermal protection properties of building structures and buildings (Czech Republic)
• GB/T 5701. Thermal environment conditions for human occupancy, (People's Republic of China)
• GB/T 18049. Ergonomics of the thermal environment-Analytical determination and interpretation of thermal comfort using calculation of the PMV and PPD indices and local thermal comfort criteria, (People's Republic of China)
• ISHRAE Indoor Environmental Quality Standard – 10001, (India)
• TM52 The limits of thermal comfort: avoiding overheating in European buildings (United Kingdom)
• M59 Design methodology for assessment of overheating risk in homes (United Kingdom)
• CIBSE Guide A: Environmental Design (United Kingdom)
• AS/NZS 3666.1: Concerned with air-handling and water systems of buildings, this standard incorporates thermal comfort in relation to microbial control. (Australia)
• NCC (National Construction Code): The code has requirements and recommendations related to indoor environment quality, including aspects of thermal comfort. (Australia)
• AS 1837 Code of Practice for Application of Ergonomics to Factory and Office Work (Australia)

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