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

Monica Ballinas, Sara Ivonne Morales-Santiago, Victor L. Barradas (), Adriana Lira and Gerardo Oliva-Salinas
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Monica Ballinas: Laboratorio de Entornos Sostenibles-Centro de Investigaciones en Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Paisaje, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Sara Ivonne Morales-Santiago: Facultad de Estudios Superiores Zaragoza, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 09230, Mexico
Victor L. Barradas: Laboratorio de Interacción Planta-Atmósfera, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Adriana Lira: Laboratorio de Entornos Sostenibles-Centro de Investigaciones en Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Paisaje, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Gerardo Oliva-Salinas: Laboratorio de Entornos Sostenibles-Centro de Investigaciones en Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Paisaje, Facultad de Arquitectura, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-11

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.

Keywords: intertropical cities; physiological equivalent temperature; thermal comfort indices; urban heat island (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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