Outdoor Thermal Comfort Study of an Urban University Campus in Malaysia

Authors

  • Nurnida Elmira Othman Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, JalanSultan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Sheikh Ahmad Zaki Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, JalanSultan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Nurul Huda Ahmad Razak Faculty of Technologyand Informatics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Azli Abd Razak Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Keywords:

Thermal comfort, urban, sensation, acceptance, preference

Abstract

Thermal comfort is an important parameter in determining the pedestrian satisfaction dealing with daily routine activities in the outdoor environment. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the outdoor thermal comfort of anurban university campus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Thermal comfort assessment is done by the field measurement and survey for different physical activities such as sitting, walking, and standing at the outdoor and semi-outdoorcondition. This study was carried out from March to May 2017 during the daytime at seven zones that being most attracted gathering places for the on-campus students. The zones represent the locationsof the field measurement. The thermal sensation results shown that most of the respondents votedfor slightly warm (28‒34%) and warm (29‒34%) for the outdoor condition and 13‒15% and 35‒36% voted for slightly warm and warm respectively for thesemi-outdoorcondition. The respondents’ thermal comfort for the semi-outdoor condition were improved where the respondents voted for slightly cool (19‒21%) and yet no respondent voted the very hot scalefor the outdoor condition. In term of the thermal acceptance, 38‒42% and 47‒51% voted the acceptable scale for the outdoor and semi-outdoorconditions respectively. As for the thermal preference, 35‒36% and 33‒34% prefer slightly cooler and cool considerably for the outdoor condition. While for the semi-outdoorcondition, 47‒52% and 17‒20% prefer slightly cooler and cool considerably respectively. In general, the overall comfort of the respondents were neutral with 54‒62% and 79‒81% for the outdoor and semi-outdoor conditions respectively. In conclusion, this study proved that the occupants who live in a hot and humid climate specifically within abuild-up area were adapted to and comfort with the higher temperature humidity level.

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Published

2024-03-28

How to Cite

Nurnida Elmira Othman, Sheikh Ahmad Zaki, Nurul Huda Ahmad, & Azli Abd Razak. (2024). Outdoor Thermal Comfort Study of an Urban University Campus in Malaysia. Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences, 57(2), 288–296. Retrieved from https://semarakilmu.com.my/journals/index.php/fluid_mechanics_thermal_sciences/article/view/3153

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