Impact of Sky View Factor on Seasonal Microclimate and Thermal Comfort Variability Across Urban Campus Streets and Buildings

University campuses feature spatially diverse environments where thermal performance varies seasonally and spatially. In this study, we integrate field measurements with ENVI-met simulations to evaluate how sky view factor (SVF) influences microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort-quantified via air temperature (Ta), mean radiant temperature (Tmrt), wind speed (WS), relative humidity (RH), physiologically equivalent temperature (PET), and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI)-within urban street and urban building spaces on a temperate Chinese campus. The results reveal contrasting thermal responses: in summer, low-SVF urban street spaces (SVF_avg 0.075) exhibit moderate heat stress (PET_avg 34.5–39.5 °C) due to radiative trapping and limited ventilation, whereas high-SVF urban building spaces (SVF_avg 0.159) face greater heat load and stronger thermal stress, with peak PET exceeding 49.9 °C. In winter, high-SVF urban building spaces benefit from solar gain, improving thermal comfort. Statistical analyses indicate non-linear threshold effects of SVF on comfort indices, with summer comfort positively correlated at SVF > 0.2, and winter comfort negatively associated at SVF ≤ 0.4. These findings identify SVF as a key geometric predictor of seasonal thermal comfort in distinct campus spatial types, provide quantitative thresholds to guide climate-resilient campus planning in warm temperate zone.

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Publication Details

Journal
Buildings
Published
2025-11-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings15224121
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Urban Heat Island Mitigation
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.80
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article

Impact of Sky View Factor on Seasonal Microclimate and Thermal Comfort Variability Across Urban Campus Streets and Buildings

Zhengyang Yao, Q. Zhang, Qisheng Han, Yichuan Zhang et al.
1 citations
Buildings
Urban Heat Island Mitigation
0.80
article

Impact of Sky View Factor on Seasonal Microclimate and Thermal Comfort Variability Across Urban Campus Streets and Buildings

Zhengyang Yao, Q. Zhang, Qisheng Han, Yichuan Zhang, P. N. Wang, Ping Wang, Xiaobing Wang, Y. Tian
article en
1 citations

Abstract

University campuses feature spatially diverse environments where thermal performance varies seasonally and spatially. In this study, we integrate field measurements with ENVI-met simulations to evaluate how sky view factor (SVF) influences microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort-quantified via air temperature (Ta), mean radiant temperature (Tmrt), wind speed (WS), relative humidity (RH), physiologically equivalent temperature (PET), and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI)-within urban street and urban building spaces on a temperate Chinese campus. The results reveal contrasting thermal responses: in summer, low-SVF urban street spaces (SVF_avg 0.075) exhibit moderate heat stress (PET_avg 34.5–39.5 °C) due to radiative trapping and limited ventilation, whereas high-SVF urban building spaces (SVF_avg 0.159) face greater heat load and stronger thermal stress, with peak PET exceeding 49.9 °C. In winter, high-SVF urban building spaces benefit from solar gain, improving thermal comfort. Statistical analyses indicate non-linear threshold effects of SVF on comfort indices, with summer comfort positively correlated at SVF > 0.2, and winter comfort negatively associated at SVF ≤ 0.4. These findings identify SVF as a key geometric predictor of seasonal thermal comfort in distinct campus spatial types, provide quantitative thresholds to guide climate-resilient campus planning in warm temperate zone.

BuildingsVol. 15(22)
Xianyang Normal University (CN), Henan Institute of Science and Technology (CN), Xinxiang University (CN), Shangqiu Normal University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 23%
Urban Heat Island Mitigation
0.80
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