ShareGender disparity in air-conditioned offices?
According to a recent article published in Nature Climate Change, standards were developed in the 1960’s and are based on the resting metabolic rates of a 40 year old man who weighs 70 kgs.
An article published in Nature Climate Change from Boris Kingma and Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt (Maastricht University in the Netherlands) suggests air-conditioning and heating standards in offices are outdated.
For researchers, standards were developed in the 1960’s and are based on the resting metabolic rates of a 40 year old man who weighs 70 kgs, which can make for uncomfortable temperatures for people with varying body types, particularly female workers. The study calculates metabolic rates of 16 lightly clothed women and shows they prefer temperatures about 3°C higher than men.
The authors conclude that standards should be adjusted and take into account the metabolic values for females for a better thermal comfort in offices but also for energy efficiency.
ASHRAE reacted to the study and the implicitly criticized ASHRAE Standard 55 Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy and explain it has been continually refined and updated since 1966.
For Bjarne Olesen, PhD, member of ASHRAE, “the interpretation (…) is not correct”. The Dutch study doesn’t compare the same things on the same conditions, for example, they don’t compare 16 men at the same activity." He concludes explaining, finally “that it is all down to clothing choice”. Women prefer higher temperatures because they adapt their clothing to summer conditions, not the men that are still wearing a suit and tie. This adaptation is followed by the protocols but “if the standard is followed the women would be satisfied; but maybe not the men.”
For researchers, standards were developed in the 1960’s and are based on the resting metabolic rates of a 40 year old man who weighs 70 kgs, which can make for uncomfortable temperatures for people with varying body types, particularly female workers. The study calculates metabolic rates of 16 lightly clothed women and shows they prefer temperatures about 3°C higher than men.
The authors conclude that standards should be adjusted and take into account the metabolic values for females for a better thermal comfort in offices but also for energy efficiency.
ASHRAE reacted to the study and the implicitly criticized ASHRAE Standard 55 Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy and explain it has been continually refined and updated since 1966.
For Bjarne Olesen, PhD, member of ASHRAE, “the interpretation (…) is not correct”. The Dutch study doesn’t compare the same things on the same conditions, for example, they don’t compare 16 men at the same activity." He concludes explaining, finally “that it is all down to clothing choice”. Women prefer higher temperatures because they adapt their clothing to summer conditions, not the men that are still wearing a suit and tie. This adaptation is followed by the protocols but “if the standard is followed the women would be satisfied; but maybe not the men.”