An adaptive approach to the thermal comfort of office workers in North West Pakistan

From a field survey of the thermal comfort of 100 office workers in Mingora and Peshawar, in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, it is shown that their responses conform to the Adaptive Model of thermal comfort. The people were comfortable at the seasonal mean indoor temperatures prevailing in their offices in spite of a large winter-summer difference. This adaptability was chiefly due to the flexibility of their traditional clothing. The ASHRAE thermal comfort standard does not fit the responses of the people, and more suitable indoor temperatures could be established on the Adaptive Model. Using such an approach would consume less energy for the heating and cooling of buildings than would the implementation of the ASHRAE Standard, which underestimated the tolerance to cold in winter and to heat in summer.