Thermal Comfort, Policy, Regulation, and Public Health: Rethinking Sustainability from a Human and Territorial Perspective in Tropical Social Housing

Thermal comfort is among the primary determinants of habitability in the built environment. In tropical developing countries, however, its treatment in public housing policy has often been limited, fragmented, and, in many cases, subordinated to energy-saving criteria that do not adequately reflect occupant needs or local climatic diversity. This study analyses the integration of thermal comfort within housing policy using a mixed-methods approach combining regulatory analysis with post-occupancy environmental monitoring. Empirical monitoring shows average indoor temperatures between 16.3 °C and 18.5 °C, with more than 80% of recorded hours falling below adaptive comfort thresholds and a predicted dissatisfaction rate (PPD) of approximately 47%. These findings demonstrate that compliance with efficiency-centred sustainability regulation does not necessarily ensure thermally adequate indoor conditions in occupied social housing, highlighting a structural gap in current regulatory frameworks between efficiency-based compliance and thermally adequate indoor conditions in occupied social housing. The analytical framework integrates three dimensions: policy analysis, environmental performance verification, and interpretation of occupant adaptive behaviour. Rather than claiming that Bogotá is statistically representative of all tropical conditions, the paper treats it as an analytically revealing case in which tensions among efficiency-centred regulation, imported comfort standards, and constrained occupant adaptation become visible. The paper also demonstrates that the current Colombian sustainability regulation (Resolution 0194 of 2025) operationalises sustainability primarily through energy and water saving targets and climatic zoning, while lacking explicit, verifiable indicators for thermal comfort, occupant well-being, or health outcomes. Finally, the paper discusses the relevance of locally calibrated standards, standardised field methodologies, and passive design strategies within a broader agenda of energy governance, environmental equity, and housing adequacy.