How to Improve ASHRAE 55 and Make It More Relevant

ASHRAE 55 is a standard that provides a way foroccupant thermal comfort to be measured for buildingdesigns. It goes beyond air temperature to account for arange of factors, so that a more holistic assessment ofoccupant thermal satisfaction can be measured.The standard needs to improve for two key reasons.Firstly, the comfort targets it sets are unachievablewhen Operative Temperature is measured byuniversally accepted methods. Secondly, an alternativemethod for measuring Operative Temperature allowsalmost all designs to comply and undermines asubstantial part of the original intent of the standard.This paper uses analysis to support these claims andproposes changes that would bring the standard back upto a level where it can be effective in its purpose.