An updated software tool from ASHRAE provides a user-friendly interface to predict thermal comfort, based on the Society’s standard for thermal environmental conditions. ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Tool, Version 2, maintains consistency with ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2010, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy.

The standard specifies the combinations of indoor thermal environmental factors and personal factors that will produce thermal environmental conditions acceptable to a majority of the occupants within the space. The tool makes thermal comfort predictions using several existing thermal comfort models, including the Adaptive and Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) models. Inclusion of these models can potentially improve occupant comfort by allowing engineers to more easily fine tune their comfort analysis to the particular needs of the occupants in the building.

ASHRAE Standard 55

“The software allows you to calculate the predicted thermal comfort for a human at a point in space,” Bill Fleming, volunteer chair of ASHRAE’s Publications Committee, said. “All you need to do a comfort analysis is some basic information about the thermal environment you want to model and a few things about the person you want to put in that environment.”

The cost of the ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Tool is $117 ($99, ASHRAE members). To order, contact ASHRAE Customer Contact Center at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404/636-8400 (worldwide), fax 404/321-5478, or visit ashrae.org/bookstore.