Thermal comfort conditions in the building of the School of Architecture, D.U.TH. P. Kosmopoulos 1* , C. Gouzeli 1 , G. Karkanias 1 , E. Titoni 1 1 Lab of Environmental and Energy Design of Buildings and Settlements, Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Environmental Engineering, 67100, Xanthi, Greece. *Corresponding author: E-mail: pkosmos@env.duth.gr, Tel +30 25410 79382, Fax: +30 25410 79382 Abstract This paper examines the thermal comfort conditions of the building of the Architecture School of the Democritus University of Thrace in Xanthi Greece with the evaluation of the environmental conditions and the users’ attitudes, with both measurements and questionnaires. The subject of this study is of special interest: it is a building that was originally designed to house the New Central Library of the University, but instead, it was offered to the Architecture department, after some improvised modifications. This is the reason for the main problems of the building, associated with the thermal comfort in the interior. It is a necessity to take some measures such as replacing the existing opening frames by systems with improved technical specifications, providing shading blinds on the South facet for protection from overheating in sunny summer days, repairing the defects of the roof, placing insulation at the North part of the building, and installing thermostats for proper operation of the active systems. Keywords: Thermal comfort; building of architecture; energy; environmental conditions 1. INTRODUCTION The term thermal comfort refers to those conditions under which a subject does not feel the need to find a warmer or colder environment. Apart from the technical consideration of a building and the passive or active systems that have been incorporated to achieve the desired thermal comfort, an important factor is also the human behavior. Also, very important in thermal comfort is the subjective factor. For example, if we suppose that the ideal temperature of a living space set at 22 o C, does not mean that everyone feels comfortable at that temperature. 2. CASE STUDY The School of Architecture (figure 1) is located in the campus of DUTH, in an open rural undergrowth area, about 5 km east of the city of Xanthi. The building was originally designed to house the New Central Library of DUTH (1998), but after some improvement modifications to the original floor plan, it was offered to the Architecture department, a function with entirely different heating and cooling needs. The lack of substantial redesign is the reason for the main problems of the building associated with the thermal comfort in the interior. The building consists of two floors and a basement with auxiliary spaces. A key element of the architectural design is the atrium located in the center of the building, which also includes the staircase. 2.1 Construction features The windows of the building are aluminum, sliding and single glazing without thermal insulation properties. The shading is obtained by internal blinds, which have suffered extensive damage. This system results in a minimum protection of the building against the cold winter weather, while in summer months the building is exposed to overheating and glare, which has a negative impact on the lighting conditions.