ABSTRACT
Thermal comfort and associated notions of increased health and efficiency were the main reason for introducing the new technology of air-conditioning into buildings from the beginning of the 20th century. The introduction of the concept of thermal comfort and the specification of desirable environmental conditions for air-conditioned buildings provided a level playing field for companies competing in the burgeoning industry. By adopting an accepted standard condition that all would deliver they could vie for contracts on the basis of cost, quality of their equipment and the service they provided. However, along with technological changes, people's expectations of comfort also changed; these expectations have moved from conditions inside the buildings to outdoor spaces. A growing theme in the academic literature on urban design is the issue of what specification ‘should obtain between people and the environments they occupy’ in order to make the conditions comfortable. 1 These proposed conditions usually represent a direct translation of the assumptions and judgments regarding the indoor environment to outdoor spaces. As with indoor thermal comfort literature, the thinking concerning outdoor thermal comfort ‘reflects and embodies a cocktail of contrasting and often competing concepts’. 2 On one hand comfort is seen as a universally definable state of affairs and on the other hand a socio-cultural achievement. We can see that if the former is accepted then the standardized concepts and conventions of comfort will lead inevitably to certain design outcomes that in a sense are predetermined. If the latter is true then decision-making does not have a single trajectory but will require a detailed consideration of a multitude of issues including environmental, social and economic factors.
