Sensitivity Analysis of Cooling Panel Temperature on the Thermal and Comfort Performance of Outdoor Radiant Cooling System

Improving urban outdoor thermal comfort is a challenge due to extreme urban heat waves and the urban heat island effect. However, the implementation of localised outdoor cooling hubs, such as open bus stops, sit-out places, parks, and construction sites, can help improve outdoor thermal comfort in specific areas. The cooling hubs featured membrane-assisted radiant cooling panels that can directly treat humans by radiative heat transfer while minimising convective heat loss to the ambient. This study aims to analyse the heat transfer and cooling performance of a localised cooling hub during a typical summer day in Hong Kong, using numerical techniques. A novel coupling approach between CFD and the human thermoregulation model (JOS-3), along with the UC Berkeley comfort model, is employed to assess human thermal sensation. The findings demonstrate that the localised outdoor cooling hub effectively delivers a cooling sensation to the occupants even in the challenging hot summer conditions in Hong Kong.