Influence of Thermal Environment on Attendance and Adaptive Behaviors in Outdoor Spaces: A Study in a Cold-Climate University Campus

Creating a favorable thermal environment in an outdoor space is essential for attracting more occupants to outdoor areas and vitalizing a city. It is possible to study occupants’ needs in an outdoor thermal environment by observing their attendance and behaviors, since people may exhibit certain adaptive measures, such as seeking shade, using parasols, etc., “vote with their feet”, or even leave the space, if they feel uncomfortable. In order to investigate the influence of thermal environment on attendance and adaptive behaviors in outdoor spaces, in this study we carried out field campaigns in a university campus in a cold-climate city. The thermal environment was monitored, while surveys of thermal perceptions and observations of attendance and adaptive behaviors were conducted. Through the data analyses, it was found that the thermal environment had a great impact on the attendance of optional activities, but necessary activities were not influenced. The greatest influence on attendance came from air temperature. The influences of wind and humidity on attendance were found to be coupled with that of air temperature. Adaptive behaviors, such as seeking shade, using parasols, changing clothes, and changing the lengths of stay, were also greatly influenced by air temperature.

Improvement Strategies Study for Outdoor Wind Environment in a University in Beijing Based on CFD Simulation

The outdoor wind environment is one of the most important factors influencing the biological environment and human comfort. The campus of China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing) (CUMTB) is the case study for this research. PHOENICS simulation software was used to carry out a numerical simulation study of the outdoor wind environment. The pedestrian-level wind (PLW) environments for both winter and summer were investigated. Based on the numerical simulation results, the overall evaluation and subregional analysis of the campus’ current outdoor wind environment were carried out. Then, according to the results and problems of wind environment assessment, improvement measures and strategies of outdoor wind environment in universities are proposed from the aspects of campus planning, single building form, and greening configuration. The main goal is to further improve the outdoor space and environment of universities in Beijing and provide general guidelines to improve the quality of the universities’ wind environment effectively. The strategies can provide a reference for the same type of campus on wind environment renovation and improvement. This study can also provide data support and reference significance for outdoor thermal environment/pedestrian environment research.

Study on Winter Indoor Thermal Environment of Temporary Shelters Built in Nepal After Massive Earthquake 2015

Natural disasters and wars are main reasons that force people to leave their homes and consequently require urgent needs including temporary shelters. After massive earthquake 2015, thousands of Nepalese who lost their home were doomed to live in temporary shelters, mostly self-built by using zinc/tarpaulin sheets which can hardly provide sufficient thermal comfort. We need to analyze the thermal characteristics of the temporary shelters for creating a better environment for their own sake. Thus, this study tries to evaluate the winter indoor thermal environment of different types of local materials used for insulation in these investigated shelters. The indoor and outdoor thermal environment was measured by digital data loggers at the 10-minute intervals for winter in thirteen different shaped shelters in main three earthquake affected districts: Gorkha, Sindhupalchowk and Lalitpur. The mean indoor and mean outdoor air temperatures were found 12.3°C and 10.1°C. The total heat loss coefficient estimated in thirteen shelters ranges from 74.8 to 325.9 W/K and their specific values with respect to the ranges from 8.1 to 20.4 W/ (m2.K). These values are very large in comparison to those in ordinary houses; this is the major reason of low indoor air temperature especially during nighttime. This suggests that some insulating materials need to be added or replaced with the materials used for the improvement for better indoor thermal environment.