THERMAL COMFORT OF BUGIS STREET

Abstract

A study was conducted on the environmental conditions and occupant comfort in Bugis Street, Singapore, specifically, the Bugis Street public thoroughfare. Despite being a sheltered environment, there are areas exposed to the natural environment, thus contradicting an entirely indoor environment. Coupled with variations in the control of mechanical ventilation practiced by individual shops in the thoroughfare, there is keen interest in the transient thermal comfort conditions. Through the approach of subjective questionnaires and objective measurements over 2 days, 19th September (weekday) and 24th September 2011(weekend), this study aims to investigate the thermal comfort conditions of the thoroughfare. Peak (1pm-3pm and 6pm to 8pm) and off peak (330pm to 530pm) sessions are assumed to gather the data collected over the questionnaire, to assess the thermal comfort conditions perceived by the respondents. Concurrently, the objective measurements of temperature, relative humidity, air velocity will be obtained on the same day. The results showed 87% of the respondents found that thermal comfort in Bugis Street were acceptable, substantiated by 85% of the thermal sensation votes with reference to ASHRAE Standard 55. From the study, it seems that the occupants in the tropic environment such as Singapore have a higher heat tolerance and adapt to the environment. On the other hand, objective environmental parameters recorded exceeded the standards stipulated by both international and local standards. Despite the standards relating to thermal comfort restrict transition spaces in Singapore, various recommendations have been made to improve the thermal comfort for majority of the people.