Comparative Study of Shading Effect of Built Environment on Thermal Comfort in Two Campuses of Tehran

Outdoor spaces and their thermal condition is becoming a controversial issue in modern architecture and urbanism. It has a great effect on people who use the open spaces like campuses where many students from different cities spend most of their time. This research investigated the effect of SVF, MRT and PET in the two campuses namely: Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) and Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT). Thermal condition of campuses has diverse states due to their different level of shaded open spaces. PET is calculated via Rayman for thermal-comfort assessment in spring and summer, 2015. Subsequently, it was determined that by decreasing SVF to 0.4, Tmrt declines to 3.04°C. The variations of MRT's influence PETs drop. PET comparison in two campuses illustrates that in an average value of PET, there is 0.86°C dissimilarity between campuses in the warmest time of the year (July). IUST campus is 1.39°C cooler on the PET measure. In conclusion, increasing shaded spaces by increasing green spaces and trees can create cooler campuses. Integrated design of shaded open spaces with their architectural forms is recommended as a design strategy for the designers to create a responsive environment in terms of thermal comfort. By this means, cooler campuses are more prone to be used by students and their activities.