ABSTRACT
Teaching an appreciation of comfort through an understanding of environmental design to students of building-related professions in higher education has been a central part of the academic syllabus from the mid-20th century. The link between addressing environmental design in buildings, comprising lighting, thermal comfort and acoustics, was seen as a clear contribution to ensuring successfully designed and planned buildings. This approach to understanding and evaluating comfort has however seen significant transformation. This is particularly true over the recent decades where the entire concept of comfort has been revised as the emphasis shifted in the subject from its meaning, to its standards of measurement. In this chapter, we review our understanding of the changing ideas of comfort in the 21st century, and also how its teaching has been framed by that shifting common understanding of comfort. A growing need to engage with a diverse, international student base in our teaching of comfort concepts is highlighted, utilising various contemporary pedagogic tools and methods. Re-thinking comfort education is essential because of its crucial role in the development of genuinely resilient buildings. A final discussion touches on possible ways forward on how comfort is taught, understood and applied in a rapidly evolving world.
