Thermal perception in the Mediterranean area: comparing the Mediterranean outdoor comfort Index (MOCI) to other outdoor thermal comfort indices

The outdoor thermal comfort is an essential factor of people’s everyday life and deeply affects the exertion and the habitability of outdoor spaces. However the indices used for its evaluation were usually developed for indoor environments assuming still air conditions and absence of solar radiation and were later adopted to outdoor spaces as well. In a previous study the Mediterranean Outdoor Comfort Index (MOCI) was devel-oped, which is an empirical index able to estimate the thermal perception of the people living in the Mediterranean area. In this study it was compared numerically (by using the data obtained through a field survey) with other selected thermal indices. This compari-son, performed in terms of Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient, association Gamma, percentage of correct predictions and cross-tabulation analysis, led to identify the MOCI as the perfect index to examine the thermal comfort in the interested area. As a matter of fact it showed a total percentage of correct predictions of 35.5%. Good performances were reported even in thermophysiological indices as the Physiological Equivalent Tem-perature (PET) and Predicted Mean Vote (PMV). Moreover it was revealed that adapta-tion and acclimatization phenomena tend to have a certain influence as well.