Thermal Comfort and Building Energy Consumption in the Philippine Context

This paper reports on the findings of the thermal comfort field study carried out in air conditioned offices in Makati City (Manila), Philippines and examines the role of non-thermal factors in comfort perception. The international comfort standard, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55 is used extensively as a reference for comfort levels in the Philippines. The potential for energy conservation through stringent control of indoor temperatures underpin the examination of the applicability of the universal values of comfort temperatures recommended by international comfort standards. Comfort has become synonymous with the consumption of applied energy. As global concern about the environment increases (e.g. consumption of scarce energy resources), it is timely to look into the relationship between comfort practices in the built environment and building energy use. The responses of the Filipino office workers contradicted currently accepted thermal comfort theory and drew out questions on the behavioural variables that affect thermal comfort perception and preferences. The findings of this study suggest that the framework advocating the separation of the technical and social constructs of comfort, on which conventional approaches to thermal comfort are predicated, shape and maintain the associated behaviour (practices and conventions) towards comfort which have ill-considered consequences on energy use and consumption.