Digital Simulation for the Outdoor Thermal Comfort Assessment

Abstract

Creating a successful public outdoor space for the city people is significantly affected by the sensation of thermal comfort, which is influenced by the local microclimate. With the increase in the complexity of the urban environment and the excessive change in the climate, there is a great need to quantitatively assess the thermal comfort in outdoor spaces to help designers and decision makers to establish the optimum scenario from the first stages of design. The traditional methods of assessment have been criticized for dependency on people's subjective perceptions and responses to different thermal environments. This chapter aims to explore the potentials and limitations of the “Digital Simulation” as one of the methods that allow objective assessment. This chapter tackles several related issues and discusses researchers' recent attempts and contributions, which would help the readers to understand the pros and cons of using the digital simulation method in outdoor thermal comfort assessment and proposes possible solutions for several challenges.