A comparative numerical simulation study for outdoor comfort indexes in courtyards

Outdoor comfort is becoming an important parameter to consider in the design of spaces given the growing concern about how the urban heat island effect increases heat stress in cities. Calculating the different comfort indexes involves the quantification of several parameters in relation to the meteorological and user conditions. There are different tools that allow comfort calculations, although the way they consider meteorological data varies, and this can alter the comfort results. This paper aims to provide a comparison between three of these tools (Rayman, ENVI-met, and Ladybug Tools) simulating three common outdoor comfort indexes (PET, SET, and UTCI) using a courtyard under hot summer conditions as a case study. The results show variations among the comfort indexes between the different tools, due to the methods that each uses to obtain the parameters needed. We conclude that the available monitored data will determine the use of the most suitable tool.