Outdoor spaces can experience a variety of environmental phenomena and changes can occur in a faster way. As a result there is vast amount of circumastances and greater complexity that someone has to deal with.
Microclimate is a cital parameter for comfort and can determine whether a space will be used from people or not (for example in a cold climate will prefer to spend there time in a sunny outdoor square but they will spend less time in a shaded one).
Usefull articles:
Microclimate is a cital parameter for comfort and can determine whether a space will be used from people or not (for example in a cold climate will prefer to spend there time in a sunny outdoor square but they will spend less time in a shaded one).
Usefull articles:
- Chen L. et al, 2012, Outdoor thermal comfort and outdoor activities: A review of research in the past decade [online] Available at: http://www.fau.usp.br/aut5823/Conforto_Termico/Chen_Ng_2012_Outdoor_Thermal_Comfort.pdf [Accessed: 26 November 2013]
- Nikolopoulou M. et al, 2003, Thermal comfort in outdoor spaces: Filed studies in Greece [online] Available at: http://nargeo.geo.uni.lodz.pl/~icuc5/text/O_2_4.pdf [Accessed: 26 November 2013]
- Hoppe P.2002, Different aspects of assessing indoor and outdoor thermal comfort [online] Munich: Institude and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ludwig Maximillians University. Available at: http://www.javeriana.edu.co/arquidis/educacion_continua/documents/Different_aspects_of_assesing_indoor_and_aotdoor_comfort.pdf [Accessed: 26 November 2013]
Nikolopoulou and Steemers (2002) in their research indicate that thermal comfort and furthermore the microclimate is very important for the use of an outdoor space. The number of people using a space is counted in several times and the results showed that this number is definitely related to the temperature and the sunlight.
Psychological adaptation plays vital role in evaluating the thermal comfort of outdoor spaces. It depends on the expectations of a person, its past experience, the time that a person is exposed to specific climatic conditions and the environmental stimulation.
Further details in: Nikolopoulou et al, 2002, Thermal comfort and psychological adaptation as a guide for designing urban spaces [online] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778802000841 [Accessed 29 November 2013]
More articles:
- Stathopoulos Th. et al, 2000, Outdoor human comfort in an urban climate [online] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360132303002002 [Accessed: 29 November 2013]
- Nikolopoulou et al, 2005, Thermal comfort in outdoor urban spaces: Analysis across different European countries [online] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038092X00000931 [Accessed 29 November 2013]
From the above graphs that were obtained collecting information from interviews (Nikolopoulou, et al. 2001) we can see that psychological and physical adaptation play very important role in thermal comfort, since there is a remarkable difference between the PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) and the ASV (Actual Sensation Vote)
Thermal neutrality (Tn) by Humphreys (Nikolopoulou et al., 2001) is the temperature at which a person feels neither cold or hot. It was estimated (for outdoor conditions) to 7.5 °C in winter and 27 °C in summer.
Further details in: Nikolopoulou et al, 2001, Thermal comfort in outdoor urban spaces: understanding the human parameter [online] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038092X00000931 [Accessed 29 November 2013]