On the study of the effects of microclimate and park and surrounding building configuration on thermal comfort in urban parks

This paper studies the effects of park and surrounding building configuration on thermal comfort in parks. Simulation models have been formulated using ENVI-met to evaluate the thermal comfort during sunlit and non-sunlit periods for both summer and winter under various microclimatic conditions and park and surrounding building configurations in Hong Kong. The simulation results were then used to formulate regression models to reveal the relative importance of microclimatic and park and building configuration factors. Our results suggested that solar altitude and tree coverage were the most significant microclimatic factor and park and building configuration factor respectively during sunlit periods for both summer and winter. During non-sunlit periods, air temperature surpassed solar altitude to become the most significant factor. During sunlit periods, park and building configuration exerted considerable influences on thermal comfort in parks for both summer and winter. However, the park and building configuration factors that could enhance the thermal comfort in parks were quite different between summer and winter. For example, park area was a significant factor in summer, while building spacing and length-to-width ratio of the park only were significant factors in winter.