Analyzing the effect of water body on the thermal environment and comfort at indoor and outdoor spaces in tropical university campus

Abstract

Water bodies play a significant role in its surrounding thermal environment. Thermal comfort in university spaces is critical that affects the students' health and performance as well as the staffs. This study investigated thermal environment and comfort near lakeside and non-lakeside tropical university spaces. Standard Effective Temperature (SET∗) have been calculated using recorded air temperature, relative humidity, globe temperature, air velocity, clothing insulation and metabolic rate to evaluate the thermal comfort in outdoor and indoor spaces. The effects of weather parameters have been clearly visible on the comfort index. The calculated SET∗ values indicate that the outdoor thermal comfort near a lake is much closer to the standard comfort zone than non-lakeside outdoor space. In the case of indoor thermal comfort, however, slightly a different scenario has been observed. To achieve the desirable indoor thermal environment, some design considerations are recommended based on findings.