EXAMINATION OF THE SIMULATED THERMAL CONDITIONS IN A POPULAR PLAYGROUND RELATED TO THE HUMAN REACTIONS AND THE JUDGMENT OF THE AREA DESIGN
L.A. ÉGERHÁZI, A. KOVÁCS, N. KÁNTOR, J. UNGER
ABSTRACT. - Examination of the simulated thermal conditions in a popular playground related to the human reactions and the judgment of the area design. In the field of urban bioclimatology an important and timely research direction today is to examine the thermal conditions of public places. In our study, human thermal comfort analysis was performed in a modern and well-attended children playground located in Szeged (Hungary). The aim of the paper is to reveal the changes in the thermal comfort conditions between two seasons and also the resulting subjective thermal reactions of visitors in this relatively small area. Thermal comfort conditions were quantified by the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET). For typical summer and autumn days of 2011 numerical simulations of thermal comfort conditions in the playground were carried out by means of the urban microclimate model ENVI-met. Spatial distribution of the simulated PET, i.e. thermal stress maps were created in two different times of the selected days in order to characterize the distinct microclimatological conditions appearing in the area. The relationship between the momentary spatial patterns of visitors and the thermal conditions was also under investigation. Additionally, onsite questionnaire survey was implemented which highlights the people’s subjective evaluation related to the design of the playground.
Keywords: thermal comfort, ENVI-met, subjective reactions, Physiologically Equivalent Temperature