Chirag Deb et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Vol.

2(7), 2010, 2825-2828

The significance of Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) in outdoor thermal comfort studies
Chirag Deb 1 Ramachandraiah A 2
1. Research Scholar, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Madras, Chennai, India 2. Professor, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Madras, Chennai, India

Abstract The use of the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) to evaluate the thermal component of the outdoor microclimate is highlighted here. The increase in urbanization is loading urban areas with complex networks of built environments and human activity. The changes and developments in the built environment invariably affect the microclimate. The changed microclimate has various affects on the built environment and in turn on their inhabitants, like effect on health, increased energy consumption in buildings, increased awareness for design for vegetation and landscapes etc. Worldwide, there have been many initiatives to study these changing microclimates. One of the factors that is inevitably altered and is highly relevant to human well being is thermal comfort. Unlike a conditioned indoor environment, outdoor climatic conditions vary widely, and so the thermal comfort of people in an outdoor, semioutdoor setting is influenced by many factors. This article highlights a series of studies that are concerned with evaluation of thermal comfort in an outdoor environment. Keywords: Outdoor thermal comfort; Thermal environment; Urban planning; PET Introduction PET is a thermal index, like the PMV (Predicted mean vote) that gives an estimation of the thermal component of a given environment. PET is based on the Munich Energy-balance Model for Individuals (MEMI), a two node model that models the thermal conditions of the human body in a physiologically relevant way [1]. Not being constrained by a steady state approach, PET is applicable for both the indoor and outdoor environment study. While there have been many studies no thermal comfort of people staying indoors, relatively fewer researchers have investigated outdoor thermal comfort and its determinants. With the increase in urbanization and tourism, urban planners and architects are looking more closely on the effect of climatic on urban planning [2]. An urban landscape (urban town) comprises of networks of enclosures, spaces and facilities. Unlike the indoor, air conditioned environment, the urban microclimate is dynamic [3]. For example, in an open urban park, the changing nature of solar radiation, wind and shading from trees makes the environment non-steady. Whereas in an urban transport facility like a railway station, radiant heat and latent heat also influence thermal comfort. Moreover, owing to its temporal nature, a steady state approach to evaluate thermal comfort, as in indoors, is not suitable for outdoor and semi outdoor conditions [4]. This paper reviews studies that have been done to assess thermal comfort in settings other than indoors. These include parks, streets, plazas, transport terminals, transient spaces and stadiums. Special emphasis has been given to the use of Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) for assessing the thermal component of urban microclimate.

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Chirag Deb et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Vol. 2(7), 2010, 2825-2828 Physiological Equivalent Temperature The physiological equivalent temperature (PET) is put forward by a German research group headed by Peter Hoppe and is already included in the new VDI guidelines (German guidelines for urban and regional planners) for assessing the thermal component of microclimate. PET is defined as the air temperature at which, in a typical indoor setting (without wind and solar radiation), the heat budget of the human body is balanced with the same core and skin temperature as under the complex outdoor conditions to be assessed. The advantages of using PET are It is an universal index and is irrespective of clothing (clo values) and metabolic activity (met values). It has a thermophysiological background and so it gives the real effect of the sensation of climate on human beings. It is measured in C and so can be easily related to common experience. It does not rely on subjective measures It is useful in both hot and colder climates and it has

Table 1. gives the variation of PET with other climatic variables.

Table 1. Variation of PET in different scenarios

Scenario Typical room Winter, sunny Winter, shade Summer, sunny Summer, shade

Ta (C) 21 5 5 30 30

Tmrt (C) 21 40 5 60 30

v (m/s) 0.1 0.5 5 1 1

VP (hPa) 12 2 2 21 21

PET (C) 21 10 13 43 29

Calculation of PET PET can be calculated simply by the software RayMan, which is made freely available by its author. It avoids all the complications of the two node model and takes simple inputs in the form of data files, topography, sky view factor etc [5]. Studies using PET Matzarakis (1998) has discussed the need of human biometeorological assessment of thermal component of an urban microclimate [6]. The urban microclimate is subdivided into a thermal and an air quality component. The thermal component consists of more meteorological parameters than only air temperature. Use of PET takes the other climatic factors into account. Matzarakis and Mayer have discussed the various applications of PET for the evaluation of the thermal component of urban microclimates [5]. They studied PET variations in Munich, Freiburg and Albuquerque, in forest trunk spaces that are located close to cities (Mooswald forest) and concluded that PET can be applied for different thermal environments such as archipelago within cities, or the flow of cold air, which is important in regional planning. They

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Chirag Deb et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Vol. 2(7), 2010, 2825-2828 found that PET turns out to be very well suited to the human biometeorological evaluation of the thermal component of different climates. Gulyas (2006) analyzed the complex surface structure of urban areas by using PET. The study examined outdoor thermal comfort conditions through field surveys in Szeged, Hungary. The radiation fluxes were influenced by narrow streets and several 20-30 meter tall trees. The results show that differences in PET amongst the investigated spaces can be as high as 15-20 C due to different irradiations [7]. It was suggested that complex urban environments can result in very different and often extreme comfort sensations even within short distances. The consequences of changed thermal environment due to planning variations can be studied through the use of PET. Toudert (2006) has discussed the contribution of street design towards the development of a comfortable microclimate at street level for pedestrians [8]. The investigations were carried out for streets with different solar orientations and aspect ratios (or height-to-width ratio, H/W) in Ghardaia, Algeria. The microclimates were analyzed using PET and the results show contrasting patterns of thermal comfort between shallow and deep urban streets as well as between the various orientations studied. The PET variations give some information about the most suitable locations pf trees within the street to improve its comfort level. He also concluded that it is difficult to interpret the meaning of one PET value for the thermal comfort of people precisely. Johansson (2006) investigates the influence of urban geometry on outdoor thermal comfort by comparing an extremely deep and a shallow street canyon in Fez, Morocco [9]. Assessment using PET show that in summer, the maximum difference was on average 6 K and as great as 10 K during the hottest days. Moreover, in summers, the deep canyon is fairly comfortable whereas the shallow is extremely uncomfortable. During winters, the shallow canyon is the more comfortable as solar access is possible. In this study, no comfort zone was presented because the levels of clothing and activity vary from those of the defined comfort zone for PET and because several studies have shown that the perception of thermal comfort outdoors is different form that of indoors. Bouyer (2007) studies thermal comfort assessment of semi-outdoor environments of stadia (stadium) [10]. The investigation was carried out with a numerical tool providing PET bioclimatic maps that demonstrated great potential. The clear, PET bioclimatic presentations, enables to realistically assess the expected comfort level as compared to traditional wind comfort assessment. It shows that wind comfort evaluation alone cannot provide a comprehensive assessment of comfort in stadia. A high (or even unacceptable) level of wind velocity combined with a high amount of solar loads leads to PET values that could have been obtained with mild conditions. Sofia (2008) examined the influence of cultural and environmental attitude on peoples thermal emotional and perceptual assessment of a park, within the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) comfortable interval of 1823 C [11]. The study shows that persons from different cultural background evaluate the weather conditions in the park differently, although the PET comfortable range says that participants of all cultural background experience similar comfortable thermal comfort conditions. The study suggests that psychological and cultural processes also intertwine in a persons perception of the thermal environment. Alcoforado (2009) attempted to translate knowledge about urban climate into climatic guidelines for planning in order to contribute to the sustainability of the urban environment [3]. With the case study of Lisbon, they study the need to identify climatic needs in a coastal city with Mediterranean climate, and describe the methodology which can be adapted in order to be used in other cities, and discuss the problems that arise when applying climatic knowledge to urban planning and contribute to furthering the debate on the advantages of including climatic guidelines in Master Plans of urban municipalities in a systematic way. Lin (2009) examines the user thermal comfort in a public square in Taiwan with a hot and humid climate [12]. The results indicate that the thermal comfort range and neutral temperature of subjects was higher than those of people in a temperate region. Additionally, local subjects preferred a cool temperature and weak sunlight, and adapted to thermal environments by seeking shelters outdoors. The results also display the existence of thermal adaptation and illustrate the characteristics of, and variances in, thermal adaptation. The experimental results show that the human energy balance model cannot fully explain the influence of climate on use of public spaces; that is, psychological and behavioral factors also play important roles in outdoor thermal comfort. The study derived the thermal comfort range for open spaces in a hot and humid region as being between 21.3 - 28.5 C PET. Whereas, in the west, the comfortable range of PET is defined between 18 - 23 C.

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Chirag Deb et. al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Vol. 2(7), 2010, 2825-2828 Conclusions The Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) is very effective, as a single thermal index, to evaluate the thermal component of any given microclimate. Its units C makes it convenient for a lay person to easily understand it as an indicator of thermal stress. It can be calculated by using the Software RayMan which is currently made freely available by its author. PET is recommended as a thermal index by the German Association of Engineers VDI guideline 3787, part 2 Methods for the human-biometeorological evaluation of climate and air quality for Urban and regional Planning, Part I: climate (VDI 1998). In a tropical country like India, with diverse climatic conditions, it will be interesting to evaluate PET variations across different climates. As discussed above, PET can also be used as a single thermal index for analyzing various microclimates of large built environments like Airports and Railway Terminals.

References
[1]. P. Hoppe, The physiological equivalent temperature - a universal index for the biometeorological assessment, Int J. Biometeorol., 43, 71-75, 1999. [2]. ISO Standard 7730: Moderate Thermal Environments - Determination of the PMV and PPD Indices and Specification of the Conditions for thermal comfort, International Organisation for Standardization, Geneva, 1994. [3]. Alcoforado, Andrade H, Lopes A, Vasconcelos J, Application of climatic guidelines to urban planning the example of Lisbon (Portugal), Landscape and Urban Planning 90 56-65, 2009. [4]. Givoni, B., Noguchi, M., Saaroni, H., Pochter, O., Yaacov, Y., Feller, N., & Becker, S. Outdoor comfort research issues. Energy and Buildings, 35, 77-86, 2003. [5]. Matzarakis A, Rutz F, Mayer H, Modelling rasiation fluxes in simple and complex environments - application of the RayMan model, Int. J. Biometeorol. 51: 323-34, 2007. [6]. Matzarakis, A., Mayer, H., Iziomon, M.G,Applications of a universal thermal index: physiological equivalent temperature, Int. J. Biometeor ol., 43, 76-84, 1999 [7]. Gulyas A, Unger J, Matzarakis A, Assessment of the microclimate and human comfort conditions in a complex urban environment: Modelling and measurements, Building and Environment 41 1713-1722, 2006. [8]. Ali-Toudert F, Mayer H, Numerical study on the effects of aspect ratio and orientation of an urban street canyon on outdoor thermal comfort in hot and dry climate, Building and Environment 41 94-108, 2006. [9]. Johansson E, Influence of urban geometry on outdoor thermal comfort in a hot and dry climate: A study in Fez, Morocco, Building and Environment 41 1326-1338, 2006. [10]. Bouyer J, Vinet J, Delpech P, Carre S, Thermal comfort assessment in semi-outdoor environments: Application to comfort study in stadia, J. of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 95 963-976, 2007. [11]. Knez I, Sofia T, Thermal, emotional and perceptual evaluations of a park: Cross-cultural and environmental attitude comparisons, Building and Environment 1483-1490, 2008. [12]. Lin, Thermal perception, adaptation and attendance in a public square in hot and humid regions, Building and Environment, In press (2009).

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