Scientifically speaking (in layman's terms) why are some people more acclimated to cold or warm environments?

Some people wear short sleeves in the office when the air conditioning is cranked up, and others need to wear a sweater. It seems to be more than a matter of what geographical location you're from, or whether or not you have a blood pressure issue. What is the scientific/medical reason for this (in layman's terms, please)?

Answers:
I don't think that it all has to do with environment. A lot of it has to do with your metabolism. I'll use myself as an example: I'm usually a lot warmer than people I work with, so I like to have the A/C cranked way up. In winter, however, everyone else says they're freezing and I'm fine. Most of the people in my office are pretty sedentary and I'm pretty active, so I think it's possible that my higher metabolic rate accounts for this discrepancy.

That's not to say that environment has nothing to do with your acclimation to temperature. I spent 11 years away from Detroit while I was in the Air Force, and I was stationed mostly in the southern states. I noticed after a while that the heat didn't seem to affect me as badly as it did when I first went south, but when I moved back to Detroit the cold of winter affected me more that first year I was here. Eventually, however, I got used to it. So in that case I would also say that the body has the ability to adapt to different temperatures over time.

No science or medicine involved here, but it does seem to explain this phenomenon.

It's hard to explain it in layman's terms when none of the terms are layman enough. Just think about it like this: it's in their genes.
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