The Influence of Sky View Factor Index on Thermal Health of Secondary Girl Students based on ASHRAE55 Standard: A Case Study in Shiraz, Iran

Environmental factors significantly impact the quality of school open spaces, creating small-scale collective areas that can positively influence student health. Among these factors, thermal health is crucial in promoting well-being. This study aimed to investigate the influence of Sky View Factor (SVF) on physiological and mental thermal health of secondary school girls in Shiraz, Iran.

A quantitative structural research method was applied in this study. Physical health assessment was conducted using Standard Effective Temperature (SET) and physiological equivalent temperature (PET) models based on ASHRAE55 and ISO7730 standards. Mental Thermal Health was calculated using Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied (PPD) models with Fanger equation. Digital thermometer, thermo- hygrometer, and anemometer Testo were used to collect temperature, humidity, and wind data on the 15th day of April until June 2022. Additionally, the radiation temperature was determined using Energy Plus v8/7. SVF for each station was determined through spherical photography with Nikon Coolpix 4500 camera. Thermal health simulations were carried out using Raymanv1.2. The correlation between SVF and thermal health values was examined using SPSS version 26.

Among the six stations, Station 3 had the highest SVF (0/853) and was the warmest, while Station 2 had the lowest SVF (0/442) and was the coolest throughout the studied period. As SVF decreased, both physiological and mental thermal health values increased.

Resting areas near shady trees showed reduced SVF and improved students’ thermal health. Moreover, our results indicated that the impact of SVF on physiological thermal health was more significant than mental thermal health.