'We Can Send A Man To The Moon But We Can't Control The Temperature In Our office'; A Considerate Approach To Workplace Thermal Comfort by Older Women

New, Kathy and Friday, Adrian and Gormally, Alexandra and Hazas, Mike (2021) 'We Can Send A Man To The Moon But We Can't Control The Temperature In Our office'; A Considerate Approach To Workplace Thermal Comfort by Older Women. In: CHI '21: Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems :. ACM, New York, pp. 1-14. ISBN 9781450380966

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Abstract

From Fanger's seminal work on thermal comfort in the 1970s, standards governing temperatures in the workplace enshrine clothing level calculations based on full business suits, and building regulations developed using only male metabolic data, locking in a default male perspective. Even later work that highlights gender biases with regard to metabolism calculation, inclusive of both genders has focused on younger women, and the voices of older working women are missing from this discourse. We invited women over 45 to explore what they find important in workplace thermal comfort, and how devices and interfaces might meet their needs and also encourage thermal adaptivity. Our study highlights factors such as 'fresh air', and the importance of empathy to fellow inhabitants. We bring new voices to the thermal comfort discourse which supports reducing energy use in the workplace, improving thermal environments and ensuring the needs of a diverse, aging workforce are considered.