Thermal Comfort for Urban Parks in Subtropics: Understanding Visitor’s Perceptions, Behavior and Attendance

Chuang-Hung Lin,Tzu-Ping Lin,Ruey-Lung Hwang

doi:10.1155/2013/640473

Chuang-Hung Lin, Tzu-Ping Lin + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/640473

Copy DOI

Abstract

The paper is an effort toward thermal comfort assessment for urban parks under the climatic conditions of Taiwan to help architects achieve better climatic design. Field interviews, observations, and micrometeorological measurements were conducted in this study. The WBGT was used as the thermophysiological index to investigate the effects of thermal conditions on visitor’s thermal perception and adaptive behavior in outdoor urban spaces. In this study, behavioral adaptations used by visitors as a means of achieving comfort were evaluated. Observational results showed that the overall attendance was influenced by sun and thermal conditions. There was a robust relationship between thermal sensation votes, as well as thermal acceptability, and thermal environment, in terms of WBGT. The upper and lower limits of 80% acceptability are 26°C WBGT and 20°C WBGT, respectively.

Highlights

Ensuring acceptable thermal comfort conditions in outdoor spaces is always one of the considerations of landscape design, since thermal environmental conditions greatly affect individual moods and activities in the outdoors as well as the usage of the outdoor spaces
The architects or landscape designers must seriously consider the actions required for outdoor space design to support comfortable conditions
Many of the research studies have generally used a thermophysiological index in outdoor thermal condition analysis

Summary

Introduction

Ensuring acceptable thermal comfort conditions in outdoor spaces is always one of the considerations of landscape design, since thermal environmental conditions greatly affect individual moods and activities in the outdoors as well as the usage of the outdoor spaces. For example, physiological equivalent temperature (PET), standard new effective temperature (SET∗), universal thermal climate index (UTCI), and so forth, are based on comprehensive energy-balance models for the human body to describe outdoor thermal conditions. Thermo-physiological indices based on energybalance model are general complex in calculation and result in difficulties in application for those architects or landscape designers who are unfamiliar with energy-balance modeling. In this sense, our research question is, can simpler and directly measurable indices, which correlate well with human

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion