Abstract
Previous indoor studies found that lighting intensity and visual comfort can affect human thermal comfort. However, it is unclear whether this relationship applies in outdoor environments. This study examines the impact of solar radiation intensity on outdoor thermal comfort in sites with different shading levels. This study used meteorological measurement to calculate the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), and compared it with thermal comfort survey data (n = 2198) in the Royal Botanic Garden Melbourne in February 2014. It was found that when UTCI was 25.0 °C – 36.9 °C, visitors to Fern Gully (a highly shaded site) felt significantly hotter at higher incoming solar radiation intensities (> 900 w/m2). However, there was no significant difference in people’s thermal sensations between different levels of solar radiation in less shaded sites. The hypothesis was that visual comfort brought by shading could affect how people perceive thermal comfort in outdoor environments.
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