Increasingly, public open spaces are gaining importance for human well-being in dense, urban areas. In inner city locations, squares can provide easy access to greenery and thus encourage social encounters. Microclimatic conditions influence the squares’ attractiveness. However, knowledge is still limited on the impact of different layouts of squares, particularly the impact of the vegetation composition on the human thermal comfort across the seasons in temperate climates. Therefore, our research aims to discern how human thermal comfort is affected by the different elements existing in different open areas of Munich, Germany. For this purpose, five different squares were analyzed on five typical days to create an overview of how human thermal comfort is affected by the layout and vegetation composition during the year. The study areas were selected in view of their size, pavement type, and the number of trees. Micrometeorological simulations were performed using the ENVI-met V 4.6 model to identify how different aspects affect the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) on typical Munich days. The urban morphology was observed to be the greatest factor affecting PET in all the cases studied. Of microclimate variables, the surface temperature was relevant only on warm days. Long-wave radiation, on the other hand, positively affected the PET on cold days. The results suggested that urban morphology has a high impact on the human thermal comfort in urban squares. The results obtained showed that it is necessary to consider diverse vegetation arrangements combined with urban morphology characteristics to optimize human thermal comfort under a range of climatic conditions.

Ao Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) pela concessão de bolsa de mestrado para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa À minha orientadora, Profa. Dra. Denise Helena Silva Duarte, pelo acompanhamento incondicional em todas as etapas deste trabalho, pela confiança em meu potencial e pelas contribuições à minha formação como pesquisadora, pela amizade e carinho Aos professores Dr. Fábio Mariz Gonçalves e Dr. Humberto Ribeiro da Rocha pelas importantes contribuições oferecidas em minha banca de qualificação À Dra. Paula Shinzato, por todo tempo a mim dedicado, pelos conhecimentos compartilhados, pelos ensinamentos sobre o modelo ENVI-met, pelos conselhos, pelas sugestões, pelas conversas e pela amizade

In the city of Sao Paulo, green spaces are few and uneven. Between 2015-2018, to increase greenery, the municipality promoted green walls as an environmental compensation solution for the loss of urban trees. This study aimed to quantify the impact of these green façades on urban microclimate at the pedestrian level, considering the following variables: air temperature, air humidity, and mean radiant temperature. We reviewed local planning documents and the microclimatic performance of green wall technologies, establishing the effects of wall greening based on simulations — using the ENVI-met V4 Science model. Although the main difference was measured 15 cm far from the walls’ surface, the 60 cm away differences from the green wall were insignificant. The results indicate: (a) the impact of the green walls on outdoor microclimates at the pedestrian level is minimum, and (b) Sao Paulo’s policy for environmental compensation using green walls was poorly supported by scientific evidence. Therefore, green walls are a highly questionable alternative for environmental compensation from the perspective of urban microclimate. As much as promoting green walls for potential benefits is desirable, they are unsuitable to compensate the range of ecosystem services lost by the elimination of trees.