Improving the outdoor thermal comfort by solar shading and evaporative cooling in a nursery school in Rome, Italy

The urban overheating is a well-known phenomenon fuelled by the global and local climate change. Solutions to mitigate the severe heat conditions are highly beneficial for pupils who cannot enjoy the outdoor spaces for playing during the warm season. This study documents the impact of outdoor solar shading devices, alone or in combination with an evaporative cooling system, to improve the outdoor thermal comfort conditions in a nursery school in Rome, Italy, and it stands as a pioneering study for climate adaption measures to be installed in schools. The activities were carried out in the second half of July 2023. The instrumental monitoring took place under two gazebos, one equipped with the misting system, and in an open-air reference spot. The sole effect of the solar shading did not significantly improve the outdoor thermal conditions; instead, the average and peak air temperatures dropped by 5 and 8.5°C, respectively, under the misting system, also the thermal comfort index dropped by 0.5 on average, scoring 0.9 as absolute vote. The subjective monitoring took place by submitting an ad-hoc questionnaire to 2/3 years old pupils, whose majority positively evaluated the misted outdoor environment in terms of heat perception and well-being.