Artificial impervious surfaces are one of the most significant factors contributing to urban heat islands (UHIs). Adapting to UHIs is a challenge in achieving thermal comfort. We conducted a quantitative and subjective evaluation of a closely paved novel water-retaining pavement (WR) and a conventional dense-asphalt pavement (AS). We investigated the thermal states of humans based on the human energy balance known as “human thermal load” as an indicator for the assessment, and the original human thermal load method was improved for assessing nonuniform environments such as pavements. We looked for individual thermal perceptions simultaneously. The experiment was conducted in typical summer weather. The surface temperature of the WR was found to be significantly lower, by 9.5 °C, while the air temperature and humidity above both pavements were not significantly different. Thus, air conditions did not directly affect the sensible and latent heat loss. The reflected solar radiation was significantly larger, and the infrared radiation was significantly smaller on the WR than on the AS due to the lower surface temperature from the water evaporation and higher reflectance. Further, the human thermal load at a pedestrian level of 1.5 m was found to be significantly different: 237 W/m2 for AS and 215 W/m2 for WR. In a subjective evaluation, the perceptions of WR tend to be distributed in smaller human thermal load, thereby resulting in a cooler and comfortable sensation. Therefore, we demonstrated that when compared to AS, WR significantly improves thermal comfort.

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