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Sports garments play an important role in the well-being of an athlete by protecting the wearer from changing environmental conditions and providing a comfortable feel. Clothing requirements have changed in recent years and demand for apparel with a higher comfort performance has been rising. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore consumers’ expectations and perception of comfort and to examine how different textiles are perceived by consumers to provide useful knowledge that allows to engineer comfort into fabrics and sports garments.

This online survey comprised 292 respondents, classified by sex, age, nationality and physical activity. The respondents were asked a total of 18 questions through the Bristol Online Survey tool to explore expectation, perception and preference of clothing comfort, specifically of sportswear.

Fit and comfort are closely linked together, both forming part of the clothing comfort concept. When purchasing garments online, the haptics of fabrics were identified as a crucial missing parameter. However, priorities of attributes within the concept varied according to the person’s sex and nationality. Women put more emphasis on garment fit and showed a higher need for tactile input, whereas men prioritised physiological comfort descriptors, i.e. properties which facilitate thermoregulation. Furthermore, there is an increased importance of physiological comfort parameters for people exercising for 10 or more hours per week. Finally, it was possible to identify common associations and preferences for textile materials (cotton, polyester, cotton/polyester blend and wool). However, consideration should be taken concerning sex and nationality.

Sex and nationality are parameters modulating the clothing comfort concept and the conceptualised feel of materials. Therefore, the sex and nationality of the end-consumer should be considered during the development phase of sports garments and particular attention should be given to the targeted market in which these will be sold.

Assessment of outdoor thermal perception in urban spaces is of particular importance due to its financial, social and ecological consequences. Thermal perception includes four elements: thermal sensation votes (TSV), thermal preference (T_pref), overall thermal comfort (T_c) and thermal acceptability (T_accept). Thermal acceptability can offer a benchmark that specifies the acceptable thermal range (ATR), which is useful for urban planners, designers, and bio-meteorologists. ATR, however, can be defined either using direct or indirect measures. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the validity of the indirect measures of ATR, which are most commonly used in outdoor thermal comfort assessments.

This study was conducted in the context of Melbourne, which has an oceanic temperate climate (Cfb). Three sites forming RMIT University City Campus (RUCC) were selected as the case studies, which were located in the heart of Melbourne Central Business District. A field survey was conducted in RUCC during three seasons, from November 2014 (Spring) to May 2015 (Autumn), which consisted of concurrent field measurements and questionnaire surveys from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In total, 1,059 valid questionnaires were collected from the three sites of RUCC. The results of comparative analysis between the different measures of ATR determination showed that the various elements of thermal perceptions expressed the users’ thermal judgements in different ways. Therefore, it was found that the instruction recommended by the thermal comfort standards on the definition of ATR failed to provide an appropriate estimation of ATR for outdoor built environments. The ATR, defined using TSV, therefore, was revised by the direct measure of thermal acceptability. The resulting range showed broader limits in acceptable thermal conditions in RUCC outdoor spaces users. Lastly, the results suggest that in the absence of directly measured acceptability of thermal conditions in field surveys, overall comfort is the most appropriate indirect measure to use.

Some indoor thermal comfort studies have used the alternatives for defining ATR. However, as the applicability of these four methods is yet to be fully explored in outdoor conditions with large weather variations, it is valuable to conduct a comparative analysis among these methods. This study also intended to understand the dynamics of comfort range under non-steady and non-uniform outdoor conditions. The resultant outcome has provided information on the relationship between different measures of thermal perceptions. Ultimately, this research aimed to explore the extent to which the indirect measures of acceptability are considered as a reliable source of information compared to the direct measure.

The aim of this research is to investigate the impact of thermal, acoustic and HVAC upgrades on the perception of the quality of life among residential building occupants.

The present study used a quantitative research approach, utilizing a questionnaire as the research instrument. A survey was conducted with 1,119 residential apartment building occupants in Prishtina, Kosovo, using a stratified random sampling method for selection of participants.

The present study used quantitative research with a questionnaire as the research instrument. The survey was conducted with 1,119 residential apartment building occupants in Prishtina, Kosovo, using stratified random sampling. The study found that thermal retrofits, acoustic retrofits and HVAC upgrades as a whole model affect the perception of the quality of life of residential building occupants in Prishtina, Kosovo. However, the study found that not all dimensions of the constructed research model (thermal, acoustic and HVAC) affect the perception of the quality of life of residential building occupants. Specifically, thermal retrofitting seems to strongly influence the perception of quality of life, while HVAC upgrades do not seem to have an impact on the quality of life of occupants. Finally, acoustic retrofits also influence the perception of the quality of life, although not to the same degree as thermal retrofitting.

The present study contributes to understanding the role that thermal retrofits, acoustic retrofits and HVAC upgrades play in the perception of quality of life by building occupants in an understudied region with a booming real estate sector such as Kosovo. The study also highlights the need for further analysis to understand why HVAC upgrades do not seem to influence the perception of quality of life by residential building occupants in Kosovo.

The present study is the first to quantify the impact of thermal, acoustic and HVAC upgrades on the perception of the quality of life of residential building occupants in Prishtina, Kosovo.

This paper aims to investigate the diners’ preference and perception on six acoustic classifications in eatery places during their casual dining. These classifications’ relationship with diners’ experience and significant impacts on diners’ preferences and perceptions during casual dining will be analyzed.

The data was collected quantitatively with randomly distributed self-administrated questionnaires during the restaurants' operating hours; 449 respondents who dined in at two casual dining restaurants in Melaka city area participated.

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests revealed that the majority of the diners were not adversely affected by the noise level, and they did not have difficulties with their conversations. The results also indicated that the respondents felt that the noise did not stop them from returning to the restaurants. This study's findings may lay the groundwork for future studies to provide the acoustic comfort classification in eatery places, which can also be integrated and synthesized to be used as a reference for acoustic design and practice.

The number of participants used simple random sampling method. Therefore, the sample cannot be typical for the target population, and there is a limited possibility of generalizing the present findings. The data collection was only gathered from two eatery places with similar typologies at the similar demographic background of customers because it was collected at Melaka city. Thus, the impacts of customers may differ at other typologies and locate in different regions, and the physical environment and the quality offered are also different in other places. The measured determinant factors only focus on the diners’ characteristics; thus, future research should be done to investigate other determinant factors impacting the preference and perceived acoustical comfort in eatery places.

The findings in this study would provide a basis reference to assess and evaluate the acoustic classification in eatery places that suits the customers’ perceived satisfaction.

This study identified that demographic characteristic, gender and age are not the prominent determinant factors influencing the diners’ preference and perceived acoustical comfort in eatery places. Moreover, the days and dining hours were also found to be the determinants that will influence the preferences.

This paper has developed determining factors on acoustics classification that can be applied upon designing eatery places as well as a fundamental approach in developing rating for acoustics comfort index as reference for the diners to choose where to dine based on their preference and activities.

In order to study the static and dynamic comfort of tight sportswear in winter, the subjective comfort was aimed to be evaluated by collecting sensory data such as humidity feeling, cold feeling and other perceptions. In this paper, the experiment was divided into standing, squatting, jumping, jogging, walking and so on.

Through particle swarm optimization-cuckoo search model, the sensory factors that affect the overall comfort were optimized, and it was found that there were great differences in the overall comfort factors under different motions. Then, analytic hierarchy process was used to sort the optimized sensory indicators in each experimental stage, and the influence degree of sensory indicators was studied. Finally, by the long short-term memory (LSTM) model, taking comfort senses of standing, squatting, jumping and jogging as input parameters, and regarding comfort senses of walking, lifting legs and resting as output parameters, the prediction model was founded.

The results showed that there were certain differences between the prediction value and the real subjective evaluation value, but most of the predicted values were consistent with the real values on the sensory level, and the overall prediction level was good, which meant that the LSTM model had more accurate prediction ability for subjective evaluation and could be extended to other sports.

The research results could provide scientific methods for the design of tight-fitting sportswear in winter.

The aim of this study is to investigate wearing comfort of summer work uniforms judged by construction workers.

A total of 189 male construction workers participated in a series of wear trials and questionnaire surveys in the summer of 2014. They were asked to randomly wear two types of work uniforms (i.e. uniforms A and B) in the two-day field survey and the subjective attributes of these uniforms were assessed. Three analytical techniques, namely, multiple regression, artificial neural network and fuzzy logic were used to predict wearing comfort affected by the six subjective sensations.

The results revealed that fuzzy logic was a robust and practical tool for predicting wearing comfort in terms of better prediction performance and more interpretable results than the other models. Pressure attributes were further found to exert a greater effect than thermal–wet attributes on wearing comfort. Overall, the use of uniform B exhibited profound benefits on wearing comfort because it kept workers cooler, drier and more comfortable with less work performance interference than wearing uniform A.

The findings provide a fresh insight into construction workers’ needs for work clothes, which further facilitates the improvement in the clothing tailor-made design and the enhancement of the well-being of workers.

This paper aims to investigate how the physical and sensory environmental triggers interact with subjective consumer evaluations in the production of shopping experiences, an under-investigated theme, despite its relevance.

An interpretative multi-method approach was used by combining video observation with camera eyeglasses and in-depth interviews with 30 customers of a department store.

Results offer a holistic framework with four-dimensional axial combination involving physical comfort, psychological comfort, physical product evaluation and sensorial product evaluation. Based on this framework, results highlight the role of comfort and products in producing shopping experience in ordinary store visits.

The findings contribute both to consumer experience studies and to the retail marketing literature in shading a light on experience production in ordinary store visits. Specifically, we detail these visits not as a static response to a given environment stimulus, but as a simultaneous objective and subjective combination able to produce experience.

The results encourage managers to understand the experience production not just as an outcome of managerially influenced elements, like décor or odor. It involves considering subjective elements in the design of consumers’ physical and sensorial retail experiences.

Adopting an innovative method of empirical data collection, results generated a framework that integrates the objective shopping environment and subjective consumer responses. This research considers the role of comfort and product features and quality both physically and sensorially to develop experiences in a holistic manner in ordinary shopping visits.

To achieve the building and property by 2050, decarbonisation goals will now require a significant increase in the rate of improvement in the energy performance of buildings. Occupant behaviour is crucial. This study seeks to guide the application of smart building technology in existing building stock to support improved building energy performance and occupant comfort.

This study follows a logical partitioning approach to the development of a schema for building energy performance and occupant comfort. A review of the literature is presented to identify the characteristics that label and structure the problem elements. A smart building technology framework is overlaid on the schema. The framework is then applied to configure and demonstrate an actual technology implementation for existing building stock.

The developed schema represents the key components and relationships of building energy performance when combined with occupant comfort. This schema provides a basis for the definition of a smart building technologies framework for existing building stock. The study demonstrates a viable configuration of available smart building technologies that couple building energy performance with occupant comfort in the existing building stock. Technical limitations (such as relatively simple building management control regimes) and pragmatic limitations (such as change management issues) are noted for consideration.

This is the first development of a schema to represent how building energy performance can be coupled with occupant comfort in existing building stock using smart building technologies. The demonstration study applies one of many possible technology configurations currently available, and promotes the use of open source applications with push-pull functionality. The schema provides a common basis and guide for future studies.

As climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, ensuring thermal comfort for older adults is magnified in tropical senior living environments. This study explores the lived experiences of older adults' thermal comfort in senior living facilities in a tropical climate and how these experiences impact their overall well-being.

Employing Moustakas' transcendental phenomenology and the Modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method, this study investigated older adults' thermal experiences through semi-structured interviews with 28 participants in six urban senior living facilities in Malaysia.

Four primary themes emerged: fabric and function; atmospheric conditions and living dynamics; thermal dynamics and environmental comfort; temperature tensions of stress, sound, and sensitivity. Our findings underscore the importance of considering the multisensory and multi-faceted nature of thermal comfort for older adults, considering sensory aspects, early life experiences, cultural practices, and personal preferences, particularly in tropical climates.

As one of the first to explore the thermal comfort of older adults in senior-friendly accommodations in a tropical climate, the findings provide a comprehensive understanding of older adults' diverse thermal comfort needs and offer practical recommendations for environments that support healthy aging. By integrating insights from hospitality, gerontology, and environmental studies, this research contributes to the promotion of public health and aligns with global objectives to improve the well-being of the aging population.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived thermal comfort experienced by active Muslim women (AMW) wearing hijabs determined by their experience of comfort sensation while doing sports activities or regular exercises. This study also examines whether the casual hijabs which are widely used among AMW are able to supply the appropriate comfort for active purposes.

This study used the quantitative method using survey questionnaires to collect 100 primary data obtained from AMW respondents who are university students located around the Klang Valley region in Malaysia.

Based on the overall results, this study suggests that the common hijabs that are used for casual applications do not offer sufficient comfort to Muslim women while performing sports activities or regular exercises.

The outcome of this study will help to gain a better understanding on hijab preferences and comfort experienced from the viewpoint of regular hijab users. The information will assist industries to consider the selection of the right materials when developing sportswear hijabs to provide better comfort for more AMW in the near future. The method used in this study is useful to gain information on consumer’s profile and value-added details about the discomfort aspects of hijab which are scarce in the existing literature on thermal comfort.

This study was conducted to explore the type of hijabs commonly worn by AMW while performing sports activities and to obtain their views on the perceived thermal comfort.