ABSTRACT
Until quite recently the theory and practice of environmental control in buildings did not take into account the nature of the voluntary responses of building occupants to the environmental conditions they experience. To some degree this neglect was a reflection of the complexity of the subject, but was also a consequence of the predominant view of the aims and methods of environmental control. In this, the desired environment is specified as a series of precise statements about temperature, ventilation rate, illumination levels and so forth. These are maintained within quite narrow limits and this usually means, in practice, that reliance is placed upon mechanical systems which are, in turn, subjected to automatic control.
