ASHRAE global database of thermal comfort field measurements

Recognizing the value of open-source research databases in advancing the art and science of HVAC, in 2014 the ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II project was launched under the leadership of University of California at Berkeley's Center for the Built Environment and The University of Sydney's Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Laboratory. The ASHRAE Global Thermal Comfort Database II (as it is known) is intended to support diverse inquiries about thermal comfort in field settings.

The exercise began with a systematic collection and harmonization of raw data from the last two decades of thermal comfort field studies around the world. The final database is comprised of field studies from around the world, with contributors releasing their raw data to the project for wider dissemination to the thermal comfort research community. After the quality-assurance process, there was a total of 77,304 rows of data of paired subjective comfort votes and objective instrumental measurements of thermal comfort parameters. An additional 25,288 rows of data from the original ASHRAE RP-884 database are included. The most recent update (version 2.1) has 6,441 new rows of data, bringing the total number of entries to 109,033.

The project was partially performed within the framework of the International Energy Agency Energy in Buildings and Communities programm (IEA-EBC) Annex 69 "Strategy and Practice of Adaptive Thermal Comfort in Low Energy Buildings.