Abstract While extensive thermal comfort research exists for severe cold and hot-humid climates, studies focusing on moderate climate zones remain scarce and fragmented. To address this gap, this study synthesizes one of the most temporally extensive and typologically comprehensive field investigations (2006–2022) in such zones, with a primary focus on Kunming. By analyzing 7 289 subjective questionnaires across diverse building types (residential, office, educational, healthcare), this study quantifies the seasonal thermal neutral temperatures, revealing a mean of 23.3 ℃ in summer (range: 21.6–25.0 ℃) and 18.1 ℃ in winter (range: 15.6–21.4 ℃). A key finding is the significant disparity between the winter neutral temperature and the measured average indoor temperature (14.5 ℃), highlighting a critical comfort deficit during colder months. Furthermore, this study pioneers the explicit inclusion of vulnerable groups and explores synergies between comfort attainment and energy efficiency. Based on these findings, we propose actionable indoor temperature setpoints of 23.0–25.0 ℃ for summer and 17.0–19.0 ℃ for winter, alongside tailored architectural design strategies. This study provides a robust, data-driven foundation for refining building standards and optimizing energy-efficient design in understudied moderate climate zones.
Liu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.