Is PET an Adequate Index to Determine Human Thermal Comfort in Mexico City?

Abstract

The urban heat island (UHI) is mostly due to urbanization. This phenomenon in concert with the high temperatures caused by global climate change may profoundly affect human thermal comfort, which can influence human productivity and morbidity especially in spring/summer period. The main objective of this investigation was to determine changes in degree of thermal comfort of Mexico City’s inhabitants and compare it with the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) to evaluate whether PET and its categorization are adequate to be applied in Mexico City. A series of microclimatological measurements to estimate PET were made at four sites including the city’s center. Concomitantly, a series of surveys of thermal perception were applied to 1300 passersby. The results show that PET has increased from 1990 to 2020 from 0.1208 °C/year to 0.1498 °C/year in the study sites, in addition to overestimating the degree of thermal comfort of people according to the stablished categories or classes. It is concluded that it is necessary to adjust thermal stress categories. Knowing the percentages of people without thermal comfort will lead us to determine different ranges in environmental parameters to define an acceptable environment for most people.

Assessment of Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Urban Public Space, during the Hottest Period in Annaba City, Algeria

“…It is important to carefully choose thermal comfort indices based on specific climatic conditions and consider relevant microclimatic variables to obtain more accurate assessments of outdoor thermal comfort. Several studies have been conducted to evaluate outdoor thermal comfort indices, including UTCI, PET, and SET, and their application in different climatic contexts [31][32][33][34][35][36]. These studies have highlighted the need to adjust thermal stress categories for a better evaluation of residents' thermal comfort, based on pedestrian thermal sensation data and on-site microclimatic data.…”

“…This study used microclimatic measurements and surveys on the thermal perception of space users. It emphasised the need to adjust thermal stress categories for a better assessment of residents' thermal comfort [34].…”

Development of Equation for Predicting of Outdoor Thermal Comfort for Individuals During Nighttime in Tropical Humid Climate

“…PET is based on typical indoor conditions, where the PET value in a comfortable response position is a measure of temperature where the wind is weak, there is no solar radiation, but it found thermal equilibrium in the human body, which can occur in a complex outdoor spaces. However some of authors have found that there were deviation between the PET calculation and from questionnaire (Ballinas et al, 2022;Iskandar et al, 2021). Another comfort index that commonly used in the study of comfort is PMV.…”