ASHRAE's history with thermal comfort

The thermal environment is one of the most important factors of the living and working environment, and thermal comfort is an important parameter for the well-being of humans. Very early it was clear that several environmental parameters would influence people's thermal comfort, such as surrounding temperature, air velocity, humidity, clothing and physical activity.

How to predict the thermophysiological response that affects thermal sensation and, consequently, well-being and productivity has been an especially key issue regarding thermal comfort. This historical overview focuses on the 20th century until the beginning of the 1990s. A paper by de Dear, et. al.,1 covers more recent research and knowledge on thermal comfort.