Abstract
This study explored subjective responses towards various environmental quality parameters. In order to investigate the combined effects of sound, light, and heat on the overall comfort (evaluated by overall comfort vote, OCV) of pedestrians, two residential areas in Yubei District, Chongqing (a Cfa city in China) were selected for field measurements combining questionnaires. Three main conclusions were drawn. Firstly, the average outdoor neutral temperature (NT), LAeq, and LUX were 26.6 °C (indicated by physiologically equivalent temperature, PET), 56.5 dBA, 21.4103 lx, respectively. Secondly, since the effects of both physiology and psychology, thermal perceptions varied for acoustic and light environments. This could be explained by the different NTs in various sound pressure or light levels. Thirdly, environmental quality factors had significant effects on overall comfort. Significant positive correlation between heat stress (PET) and OCV was found (sig＜0.000); while the effects of sound pressure and light intensity were not always significant. Hence, thermal stress played a significant role in people’s overall comfort. Findings of this study were directive for future environment design for creating more physiologically comfortable spaces.