TT: On August 3 this year, The New Yorker magazine ran an entertaining article about how thermal comfort in buildings might just be biased towards men in suits. Now I don't mean "suits" in a pejorative sense, but literally, suits as opposed to say, jeans and T-shirts. But let's come back to The New Yorker feature after we've considered what influences our state of thermal comfort inside our homes and offices. I spoke to Peter Lyons, a local window expert, about this.

PL: Windows can have a big impact on whether building occupants feel comfortable or not. The bigger a window is and the closer you sit to it, the more likely it is to influence your comfort. The more insulating a window is, the closer its surface temperature will be to a desirable indoor temperature. On a frosty Canberra winter's night, single glazing will be very cold – often below 5 degrees. Result: you are more likely to feel cold because you are radiating more heat to the window than it is radiating towards you. A very cold window surface generates a noticeable air current which drains off the cold glass and flows across the floor. This draught is felt by people near the window. In hot weather, the reverse; unshaded glass and metal window frames get quite hot. They become radiators.

TT: What about other impacts on thermal comfort?

PL: Yes, many other things determine whether we feel comfortable or not. Are we dressed sensibly, i.e. warmly in winter and loosely in summer? Are we sitting still or moving around? Is the weather dry or humid? Are there already draughts in the room?

TT: So what did The New Yorker say about this?

PL: Architects and engineers follow a standard called ASHRAE 55, which is a kind of cookbook for indoor climate regulation. Two important factors are a person's metabolic rate and clothing level. When the standard was first written 50 years ago, it assumed the person was a guy in a business suit (wearing "one clo"), of average height and weight and burning energy at the rate of "one met". But what about women, who often wear less than "one clo" and who, because of their different physiology, don't burn energy as fast as a bloke? Other things being equal, women prefer a room to be slightly warmer than men. If it is an air-conditioned, excessively chilled office, women are more likely than men to be uncomfortable. Macquarie University's Dr Richard de Dear is an expert on this. His work and that of many others shows that the thermostat can be turned up a couple of degrees, especially if cooling fans are used judiciously. The benefits are clear: in one fell swoop, men will adapt, women will feel more comfortable and energy will be saved. As The New Yorker said, "Adam can ditch the jacket and tie" while Eve doesn't need to shiver indoors even though it is 40 outside. A win-win? And yes, there is very much a role for good windows that don't feel like an ice block to be near to in winter, or like a radiator in summer.