Adapting the Olgyay bioclimatic chart to assess local thermal comfort levels in urban regions

Abstract

Providing comfortable thermal conditions for users of open spaces is vitally important for improving the quality of urban life. Thermal comfort can be defined through environmental, individual, and subjective variables. The Olgyay bioclimatic chart is an outdoor thermal comfort analysis tool, connecting temperature with relative humidity. The application of this tool is still limited to hot humid climates only where minimal differences between indoor and outdoor temperatures exist. The novelty of this work is to propose adaptations to the Olgyay bioclimatic chart, taking into consideration different climatic classifications. In addition, urban plantation is examined for its influence on thermal comfort through the bioclimatic chart. The method adopted in this research consists of field measurements of the microclimatic variables in the examined places. In response, a new graphic model is proposed with a range of thermal comfort zone and analysis of the data obtained. The neighborhood of Humaitá in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil is applied as a case study to validate the proposed approach. Insights into this work reveal that the urban plantation is contributing to the reduction of air temperature and the increase of relative air humidity; however, this contribution is insufficient to reach the thermal comfort conditions.

Graphic abstract