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Overcooling of offices reveals gender inequity in thermal comfort.

ABSTRACT: Growth in energy use for indoor cooling tripled between 1990 and 2016 to outpace any other end use in buildings. Part of this energy demand is wasted on excessive cooling of offices, a practice known as overcooling. Overcooling has been attributed to poorly designed or managed air-conditioning systems with thermostats that are often set below recommended comfort temperatures. Prior research has reported lower thermal comfort for women in office buildings, but there is insufficient evidence to explain the reasons for this disparity. We use two large and independent datasets from US buildings to show that office temperatures are less comfortable for women largely due to overcooling. Survey responses show that uncomfortable temperatures are more likely to be cold than hot regardless of season. Crowdsourced data suggests that overcooling is a common problem in warm weather in offices across the US. The associated impacts of this pervasive overcooling on well-being and performance are borne predominantly by women. The problem is likely to increase in the future due to growing demand for cooling in increasingly extreme climates. There is a need to rethink the approach to air-conditioning office buildings in light of this gender inequity caused by overcooling.

SUBMITTER: Parkinson T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8655064 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Data from post-occupancy studies in real constructions have been instrumental in the development of mainstream thermal comfort standards for the built environment. However, there is growing evidence of the need to advance these standards, through more robust and comprehensive fieldwork records from a broader spectrum of geographies, climates, architectural characteristics and occupancies. It has been shown that the standards have limited suitability in environments such as educational buildings, as they were developed based mainly on adult subjects working in offices. The lack of guidance in data collection methodologies is also thought to require particular attention, as the accuracy of the assessment models relies significantly on the quality of the information gathered. This manuscript proposes a method to systematically acquire an extensive range of data specifically from school classrooms. The method seeks to improve current techniques as follows: •The post-occupancy surveys suggested in mainstream standards focus mainly on the collection of physical and environmental parameters related to adult subjects. Classroom-comfort-data can be used to collect information not only on physical and environmental parameters but also on physiological and psychological aspects. It also includes tools tailored for occupants from different ages (7 years old and above).•The assessment models suggested in mainstream standards employ between 2-5 parameters to predict thermal comfort ranges. The Classroom-comfort-data method is designed to gather up to 49 different thermal comfort parameters, which allow a more comprehensive evaluation of perception and preference, as well as adaptive strategies, social context, and cognitive and emotional appraisals.•The existing surveys in the standards were formulated primarily for office environments in subtropical and temperate climates. The Classroom-comfort-data method can be adapted to fieldwork within different conditions of climate, building design, occupancy levels, and cultural contexts.

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Overcooling of offices reveals gender inequity in thermal comfort.

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