REDEFINING THE NOTION OF OUTDOOR THERMAL COMFORT

Abstract

The growing urban warming and climate change have prompted thermal comfort being studied under the themes of urban quality and sustainability. However, the piecemeal approaches and standards from various disciplines, coupled with their respective set of parameters, drive thermal comfort to be somehow elusive. This study, therefore, reviewed a series of relevant papers and discussed thermal comfort in a more holistic view. This paper focused on the notion of outdoor thermal comfort at the pedestrian-level in order to redefine the practical variables in outdoor comfort studies, mainly from an urban design perspective. Several quantitative and qualitative criteria related to comfort were incorporated into the discussion, including both thermal and non-thermal factors. This paper, firstly, discussed the discrepancy between indoor comfort and outdoor comfort, and next, the variables involved and thermal perception. In the discussion, it suggested a new area of inquiry in which outdoor thermal comfort might be influenced by nontactile stimuli – for example, visual impacts produced by color, light intensity as well as the attractiveness of scenery. Overall, the paper highlighted that the intervention of human senses plays a vital role in presenting the degree of outdoor comfort. It is physical and phenomenological in response to the richness of climate and outdoor environmental characteristics. In conclusion, outdoor thermal comfort study requires a coherent consideration of interface between human and outdoor environments. The integration of urban parameters into thermal physical and psychological sensations can be an alternative to achieve the integrity of this subject.