Commercial and office buildings often have problems on the aspects of indoor thermal environment and energy performances. The actual performance of these types of buildings, most of the time, are different from the desired performance. A data collection was conducted in an office space of a university building in Singapore as part of the ongoing study, measuring the environmental performance of office buildings across Southeast Asian countries. The objective measurement on the thermal condition shows that most measurement points across office space is at the colder side of the comfort zone. This finding is supported by the survey results where only about 65% of occupants voted for "slightly cool", "neutral" and "slightly warm" and about 22% of occupants showed "cold" related symptoms on their legs, hands and body at the end of working hours. The calculated neutral temperature range was generally from 24 degrees C to 26 degrees C, while the measured room temperature was mostly below 24 degrees C.

The average thermal sensation of occupants in the hot and humid region of Asia is different from that of Europeans and Americans. Office occupants in buildings equipped with air conditioners tend to find the thermal environment uncomfortable due to individual differences of thermal sensation. In this research, the thermal environment was measured in two office buildings in Taipei during summer. The Occupants' sensation of the thermal environment was recorded using a voting machine developed by team researchers. Thirty-six occupants were requested to report the feeling of an unacceptable thermal environment by pressing a red or blue button on the voting machine when feeling hot or cold, respectively. The results show that operative temperature and absolute humidity varied at the times an individual was out of the comfort zone based on ASHRAE Standard 55(2013). Although all individuals were in the same environment, some occupants reported feeling unacceptably, even though they were at a temperature and humidity level considered to be within the comfort zone. About 60% of unacceptable votes reported feeling cold while within the comfort zone. This research suggests that it is possible to revise existing comfort criteria in offices in Taiwan or other hot or humid regions in Asia.