Human comfort criteria in urban environment

This paper presents human comfort criteria based on equivalent temperature and thermal load thresholds. The approximate relationship of the perceived temperature has been proposed taking into account the influence of wind speed and temperature of the ambient air. The above-mentioned index was related to a man dressed in clothes with thermal insulation of 1 clo, carrying out light physical effort (M=70W/m²) and for solar radiation equal to 30W/m². Thermal loads of the body were estimated by describing individual fluxes and heat balances in relation to air temperature and wind speed. It allowed to compare relatively different environmental conditions without necessity of applying complex test balance models. The proposed criteria consider total effects of mechanical and thermal influence of environment on human body. It can be used by urban planners and engineers in the process of searching for optimal building development.