The First Cooling Approach That Addresses the Individual, Not the ZonePREVIEW

HVAC controls a zone. Occupants are
individuals with individual thermal needs.
When the zone becomes the control unit and
the person is forced to adapt, the person
loses.

Zone-based HVAC control treats the
building as a collection of
100-to-500-person thermal zones, each
controlled by a single thermostat. This
approach made sense in 1980 when
installing individual thermostats was
expensive and complex. It makes no sense
now. The comfort science has moved on.
Biology knows zones are fiction. People
are not zones. People are individuals.

Individual thermal comfort depends on
individual physiology (metabolic rate,
body composition, age, sex,
thermoregulatory capacity), individual
clothing (long sleeves versus t-shirt,
jacket on or off), individual activity
(sitting vs. moving), and individual
acclimatisation. No single setpoint
satisfies a zone of 200 people with 200
different combinations of these variables.
The zone approach inherently forces
discomfort on 50 to 100 people per zone to
achieve acceptable comfort for the
remainder.

Research on thermal comfort in open
offices shows that 25 to 30 percent of
occupants report thermal discomfort at any
given time with single-thermostat control.
Discomfort is persistent: the same
individuals report discomfort day after
day. These are not outliers. These are
people whose thermal physiology differs
from the thermostat's assumption.

Individual-level control is now
technically feasible and economically
viable. Personal thermal devices
(heated/cooled seats, wristbands, vests)
provide one approach. Biothermal
Microconditioning provides another:
distributed clusters that create local
microclimates within the zone. Individuals
choose proximity to clusters based on
individual thermal need. No thermostat
negotiation. No forced compromise. Just
local choice.

Offices deploying Thermopod clusters
transition from zone control to individual
adaptation. Occupants report comfort
increases from 70-75 percent to 90-95
percent. Thermal comfort complaints drop
to near zero. Productivity increases
measurably. The shift from zone to
individual is the fundamental insight.
Easy Retrofit. One day. From zone control
to individual comfort. Physics finally
aligns with biology.