Thermal comfort is complex and partly
subjective. It depends on many factors, of which
air temperature, humidity, air movement, thermal
radiation, the metabolic rate and the level of
clothing are fundamental. The impacts of these
factors on the thermal balance of the human body
irrespective of adaptation to the local climate form
the basis on which theoretical comfort models/
standards, such as Fanger’s PMV [9], its derivativeISO 7730 and most versions of ASHRAE Standard
55, were developed. However, adaptive models,
such as those developed by Auliciems [10],
Humphreys [11] and Szokolay [12], also consider
acclimatisation an important factor in comfort
sensation. This difference leads to the adaptive
models predicting comfort zones which vary
according to the prevalent local climates, while
the theoretical models predict comfort zones which
are independent of local thermal conditions.