BSRIA topic guide to thermal comfort

[edit] Introduction

This topic guide gives a general overview of the topic of thermal comfort for a general construction industry audience, including clients, architects and project managers. It includes information about legislation, factors affecting thermal comfort, measurement of thermal comfort and sources of further information.

Thermal comfort is a state of body and mind in which a person feels satisfaction with factors such as temperature and air movement in the indoor environment. There are a number of factors which affect thermal comfort, some of which can be measured, and some of which are more subjective. This topic guide explains the basic principles of thermal comfort as they apply to buildings in the UK.

The topic of thermal comfort is part of the wider topic of indoor environmental quality, which also includes indoor air quality (discussed in BSRIA topic guide TG 12/2022) and noise (discussed in BSRIA topic guide TG 20/2021).

This topic guide gives a general overview of the topic of thermal comfort for a general construction industry audience, including clients, architects and project managers. It includes information about legislation, factors affecting thermal comfort, measurement of thermal comfort and sources of further information.

[edit] Thermal comfort instrumentation

An extensive range of portable devices including data logging systems for measuring thermal comfort are available for hire and purchase from BSRIA Instrument Solutions.

[edit] Indoor air quality

Indoor air quality BSRIA TG 12/2022 is free to download - This topic guide replaces TG 12/2021. It gives a brief introduction to the topic of indoor air quality (IAQ). It describes the importance of indoor air quality, its effects on health, the most common contaminants, their exposure limits, how to measure them, the role of ventilation and the law.

[edit] Noise in the built environment

BSRIA Noise in the built environment TG 20/2021 is free to download - This topic guide provides a broad overview of noise in the built environment and explains how noise is produced, how noise is measured, what impact noise has, and how noise can be controlled.

This article appears on the BSRIA news and blog site as "Thermal Comfort (TG 22/2023)" from January 2023

BSRIA

[edit] Related articles on designing buildings

• Adaptive thermal comfort.
• BSRIA.
• BSRIA articles.
• Cold stress.
• Comfort in low energy buildings.
• Evolving opportunities for providing thermal comfort.
• Healthy excursions outside the thermal comfort zone.
• ‎Maximum and minimum workplace temperatures.
• Excess cold.
• Mean radiant temperature.
• Operative temperature.
• Overheating.
• Predicted percentage dissatisfied.
• Predicted mean vote.
• Preventing overheating.
• Psychometric charts.
• Thermal comfort and wellbeing.
• Thermal comfort in buildings.
• Thermal environment.
• Thermal pleasure in the built environment.
• Thermal indices.

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