Outdoor Comfort

The work described in this chapter examines thermal comfort conditions through the users of open spaces and their subjective responses. It reveals that microclimatic parameters strongly influence thermal sensations, as well as the use of open urban spaces throughout the year. However, it is revealed that microclimatic parameters only accounts for around 50% of the variation between objective and subjective comfort evaluation. The rest cannot be measured by physical parameters, but psychological adaptation seems to become increasingly important, accommodating wide fluctuations in the physical environment, so that thermal discomfort is avoided. The different mechanisms of adaptation, both physical and psychological, are examined and evaluated, and they are shown to be complimentary rather than contradictory.