Gender Differences on Thermal Acceptability and Occupants Behavior in Japanese Office Buildings

Abstract

Creating an environment that is comfortable to the majority of the occupants is important as it determines occupant performance and satisfaction to the given environment. This study investigates gender differences on thermal comfort and occupant behavior in Japanese offices. A total of 7295 datasets were gathered from 2037 occupants where 1328 were males and 709 were females. Results indicated no statistically significant gender differences in thermal sensation vote as both genders predominantly reported “4. Neutral”. However, females exhibited slightly higher thermal sensitivity and expected higher comfort temperatures, particularly in cooling (CL) mode obtained as 25.5°C for males and 26.0°C for females as estimated by Griffiths' method. Male exhibited broader tolerance to 90% acceptable indoor temperature, indicating wide adaptability to environmental changes compared to females as estimated by Probit analysis. It was also observed that females preferred a warmer temperature range than males under both free running (FR) and heating and cooling (HT&CL) modes. Clothing insulations were similar across genders. Passive behavioral adaptations varied by gender, with males being more active towards cooling behaviors and females towards warm behaviors. The findings provide empirical evidence supporting occupant-centric environmental design and operational strategies, with implications for improving thermal comfort and energy efficiency particularly within the Japanese context.