A set of methods that are developed in order to maintain the characteristics of the ambient air in a room or in a in other premises, like the temperature, the humidity, and the quality of air in general that is required.
For industrial premises or residences, the objective of air conditioning will be to treat the indoor air for the comfort in terms of heat and sensation of the people using these facilities.
Practically, the objective of air conditioning is to maintain a regular temperature and humidity and remove any air pollution factors that disturb the users (dust, microbial germs, VOCs, odors, etc.).
Air conditioning can also be used in order to maintain the quality of the air at specific values that are required for certain applications where comfort of users is important (laboratory rooms, clean rooms, computer rooms, etc.).
The term air conditioning is often used for the devices that generate cold and hot also in the case of a reversible air conditioning