ABSTRACT
A field study of thermal comfort was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand in which over 1100 office workers responded to a questionnaire survey form while simultaneous physical measurements were taken. In this study we explore whether there is justification for adopting a comfort standard that differs from those developed for office workers accustomed to more temperate climates. Both air-conditioned and naturally-ventilated offices were surveyed. Participants cast votes on standard subjective thermal rating scales and these were correlated with temperature indices that variously account for the thermal impacts of humidity, radiant temperature, air-velocity, and clothing levels. Following the criteria used in developing a widely adopted thermal comfort standard, it was found that the upper temperature bound for a Thai comfort standard, instead of being the currently accepted level of 26.1 °C, should be as high as 31 °C for office workers accustomed to naturally-ventilated spaces, and as high as 28 °C for those accustomed to air-conditioning. Comparing the responses from the naturally-ventilated buildings with both those from the air-conditioned buildings and from studies conducted in the temperate regions provides convincing evidence of acclimatization. These and other findings of this study suggest that in Thailand, interior spaces can be cooled to a far lesser degree without sacrificing comfort.
