Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Environmental Comfort and Beyond / Boon Lay Ong -- Sensory Pleasure and Homeostasis / Michel Cabanac -- Consciousness, Well-being and the Senses / Derek Clements-Croome -- Cultural Responses to Primitive Needs / Nick V. Baker -- Acoustical Aesthetics, Sound and Space / Sir Harold Marshall -- Existential Comfort: Lived Space and Architecture / Juhani Pallasmaa -- Outdoor Environment Indoor Space / Boon Lay Ong -- The Poetics of Environment / Dean Hawkes -- Why does the Environment Matter? / Derek Clements-Croome -- Biophilia, Topophilia and Home / Boon Lay Ong -- Green Pleasures / Constance Classen.

"Although thermal comfort is the main topic of this book, the sense of comfort is so integral to our general sense of well-being and how we experience buildings that research in this field has expanded to address that larger picture. As such, experts from different fields have contributed in their own respective ways to the overall understanding of the subject. This is the first time that these diverse views have been brought together and additionally, an attempt is made to define the field for the future"-- Provided by publisher.