Identifying potential effects from anthropometric variables on outdoor thermal comfort

In this study, we carried out outdoor thermal comfort surveys with pedestrians during warm periods of the year throughout 2012 to 2015 in downtown Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Monitoring points were defined in respect of urban geometry attributes. For the measurements, a light-weight weather station was used, to which a gray globe thermometer was attached. The 'Universal Thermal Climate Index' (UTCI) and the derived 'Dynamic Thermal Sensation' (DTS) units were used as baseline for comparisons with reported thermal sensation votes from 985 respondents. The survey questionnaire included questions as regards thermal perception as well as personal, self-reported characteristics of the respondents. We analyze results in terms of influencing aspects on reported thermal sensation due to anthropometric characteristics of the sample, including gender, age, body mass and skin colour. Results point to the statistical significance of body mass as well as skin colour in moderating the effect of thermal conditions on users' thermal judgement. Gender effects were found to be insignificant whereas age impacts can be a matter of concern in climate-sensitive urban design. In the multivariate regression equation obtained from raw data, along with the meteorological data only skin colour was found to be a good predictor, slightly improving its predictive power.