INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT WATER FEATURES ON THERMAL COMFORT AND AIR TEMPERATURE

Abstract

Urban Heat Island (UHI), defined as the temperature differential between the rural and urban areas of a city, has drawn widespread concern. Researches on the mitigation plans were extensive of which having more greenery have been proven to be an efficient measure to curb UHI. While plans also mentioned having more water surfaces could alleviate UHI effect, it has received comparatively less attention.

In this research work, 3 water facilities, water pond, water fountain and water wall were looked into as an effective measure to improve the thermal environment. Field experiments were conducted during 1100-1300 and 1800-2000 to find out any potential cooling by the water features. Data collected revealed that water fountain and water wall is able to cool the environment with water fountain registering a 4oC difference in temperature from a 150m reference point in the day and 1.3oC in the evening. Water wall showed 1.6oC difference in the day and 0.4oC in the evening. Water pond on the other hand recorded a higher temperature difference than urban spaces at 2.6oC and 0.5oC in the day and evening respectively.

Thermal comfort conditions examined at each of the water features revealed that the people were more acceptable of the environmental conditions at the water features both in the day and in the evening than the reference points. Of the three water features, respondents found thermal conditions at the water fountain and water wall more satisfactory.

These results support the hypothesis that “moving” water features (fountains and water wall) can more effectively bring down the ambient temperature and people will feel cooler there than “non-moving” water facility (water pond).