Studying thermal comfort in context

This commentary considers the recent Building Research Information special issue titled 'Comfort in a Lower Carbon Society' and what it suggests about how to conduct contextual studies of thermal comfort. Firstly, consideration is given to the places within which comfort is examined and how research might beneficially trespass beyond the borders of the building to explore how lifestyles combine various places with a range of social expectations and techniques for managing personal temperature. Secondly, the suggestion is that whilst it could be worthwhile to examine various lifestyles, contextually sensitive researchers must select the groups they study carefully and acknowledge the limitations associated with this choice. Thirdly, it considers which practical methods are most appropriate for this line of research and how existing approaches could be supplemented by techniques currently uncommon in this field. The overall argument is that qualitative approaches with groups of current users could identify the most sensitive ways of steering societies towards more sustainable thermal futures.