scholarly journals Assessment of the Urban Heat Island Impact on Building Energy Performance at District Level with the EUReCA Platform

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Pierdonato Romano ◽  
Enrico Prataviera ◽  
Laura Carnieletto ◽  
Jacopo Vivian ◽  
Michele Zinzi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Urban Heat

In recent decades, the cooling energy demand in urban areas is increasing ever faster due to the global warming and the growth of developing economies. In this perspective, the urban building energy modelling community is focusing its research activities on innovative tools and policy actions to improve cities’ sustainability. This work aims to present a novel module of the EUReCA (Energy Urban Resistance Capacitance Approach) platform for evaluating the effects of the interaction between district’s buildings in the cooling season. EUReCA predicts the urban energy demand using a bottom-up approach and low computational resources. The new module allows us to evaluate the mutual shading between buildings and the urban heat island effects, and it is well integrated with the calculation of the energy demand of buildings. The analysis was carried out considering a real case study in Padua (Italy). Results show that the urban heat island causes an average increase of 2.2 °C in the external air temperature mainly caused by the waste heat rejected from cooling systems. This involves an increase in urban cooling energy and electricity demand, which can be affected between 6 and 8%. The latter is the most affected by the urban heat island (UHI), due to the degradation it causes on the HVAC systems’ efficiency.

scholarly journals Hacia un modelo dinámico para la isla de calor urbana de Madrid = Towards a Dynamic Model for the Urban Heat Island of Madrid.

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Núñez Peiró ◽  
Emilia Román López ◽  
Carmen Sánchez-Guevara Sánchez ◽  
Francisco Javier Neila González
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Predictive Model ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
Energy Simulations ◽  
The City

Resumen Esta investigación se enmarca dentro del proyecto MODIFICA (modelo predictivo - Edificios - Isla de Calor Urbano), financiado por el Programa de I + D + i Orientada a los Retos de la sociedad 'Retos Investigación' de 2013. Está dirigido a desarrollar un modelo predictivo de eficiencia energética para viviendas, bajo el efecto de isla de calor urbano (AUS) con el fin de ponerla en práctica en la evaluación de la demanda de energía real y el consumo en las viviendas. A pesar de los grandes avances que se han logrado durante los últimos años en el rendimiento energético de edificios, los archivos de tiempo utilizados en la construcción de simulaciones de energía se derivan generalmente de estaciones meteorológicas situadas en las afueras de la ciudad. Por lo tanto, el efecto de la Isla de Calor Urbano (ICU) no se considera en estos cálculos, lo que implica una importante falta de precisión. Centrado en explorar cómo incluir los fenómenos ICU, el presente trabajo recopila y analiza la dinámica por hora de la temperatura en diferentes lugares dentro de la ciudad de Madrid. Abstract This research is framed within the project MODIFICA (Predictive model - Buildings - Urban Heat Island), funded by Programa de I+D+i orientada a los retos de la sociedad 'Retos Investigación' 2013. It is aimed at developing a predictive model for dwelling energy performance under the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect in order to implement it in the evaluation of real energy demand and consumption in dwellings. Despite great advances on building energy performance have been achieved during the last years, weather files used in building energy simulations are usually derived from weather stations placed in the outskirts of the city. Hence, Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is not considered in this calculations, which implies an important lack of accuracy. Focused on exploring how to include the UHI phenomena, the present paper compiles and analyses the hourly dynamics of temperature in different locations within the city of Madrid. 

scholarly journals Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies: Experimental and Numerical Analysis of a University Campus in Rome (Italy)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 7971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Battista ◽  
Luca Evangelisti ◽  
Claudia Guattari ◽  
Emanuele De Lieto Vollaro ◽  
Roberto De Lieto Vollaro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Local Overheating ◽  
Urban Heat

The urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon is strictly related to climate changes and urban development. During summer, in urban areas, the lack of green zones and water sources causes local overheating, with discomfort and negative effects on buildings’ energy performance. Starting from this, an experimental and numerical investigating of the climatic conditions in a university area in Rome was achieved, also assessing the occurrence of the UHI phenomenon. The analyzed area was recently renewed, with solutions in contrast to each other: on one side, an old building was re-designed aiming at high performance; on the other hand, the neighboring areas were also refurbished leading to large paved surfaces, characterized by high temperatures during summer. A calibrated numerical model was generated through ENVI-met software and eight different scenarios were compared, to mitigate the overheating of this area and to analyze the influences of the proposed solutions in terms of air temperature reduction. The analysis of this case study provides information on potential mitigation solutions in the urban environment, showing that goals and priorities in the design phase should concern not only buildings but also external areas, also considering university areas.

The effect of sky conditions and urban morphology on urban heat island in Seoul city

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soo Joeng Joen ◽  
Jin woo oh ◽  
Jack Ngarambe ◽  
Patrick Nzivugira Duhirwe ◽  
Mi Aye Su ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Area Ratio ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Urban Geometry ◽  
Building Area ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Sky Conditions

<p>The urban heat island (UHI) is a serious climatological phenomenon that is likely to exacerbate the effects of climate change. It has adverse effects on the thermal comfort of urban dwellers, building energy consumption and the general health of vulnerable demographics (i.e. older people). To understand the effects of UHI and therefore devise efficient methods to mitigate it, it is important that we understand the many factors affecting UHI and the magnitude of their contribution on the manifestation of UHI, especially in urban areas. Consequently, in the current study, we study the effect of sky conditions and urban geometry on UHI in Seoul city, South Korea. The climatic data detailing diverse sky conditions, categorized by the amount of cloud cover, was collected from 28 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) located in Seoul city. Information on urban geometry such as building density, gross floor area ration and building area ratio was obtained from satellite imagery. Our results indicate that the levels of UHI, quantified using urban heat island intensity (UHII), are dependent on the prevailing sky conditions. We found that, UHII was highest under cloudy sky conditions (r = 0.71) and lowest under clear sky conditions (r = 0.66). Furthermore, we found that UHII was correlated with building area ratio and gross area ratio; areas with high building area ratios and gross area ratios tended to also experience high UHII levels. The results presented in the current study are useful to policy makers or urban designers that wish to curb the increasing effects of UHI in urban areas and consequently improve thermal comfort in urban areas, reduce building energy consumption for space cooling purposes and prevent heat-related mortalities in old and vulnerable populations.</p><p> </p><div> </div>

scholarly journals Review on Urban Heat Island in China: Methods, Its Impact on Buildings Energy Demand and Mitigation Strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 762
Author(s):  
Liu Tian ◽  
Yongcai Li ◽  
Jun Lu ◽  
Jue Wang
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Building Energy ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Building Energy Consumption ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The Impact

High population density, dense high-rise buildings, and impervious pavements increase the vulnerability of cities, which aggravate the urban climate environment characterized by the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Cities in China provide unique information on the UHI phenomenon because they have experienced rapid urbanization and dramatic economic development, which have had a great influence on the climate in recent decades. This paper provides a review of recent research on the methods and impacts of UHI on building energy consumption, and the practical techniques that can be used to mitigate the adverse effects of UHI in China. The impact of UHI on building energy consumption depends largely on the local microclimate, the urban area features where the building is located, and the type and characteristics of the building. In the urban areas dominated by air conditioning, UHI could result in an approximately 10–16% increase in cooling energy consumption. Besides, the potential negative effects of UHI can be prevented from China in many ways, such as urban greening, cool material, water bodies, urban ventilation, etc. These strategies could have a substantial impact on the overall urban thermal environment if they can be used in the project design stage of urban planning and implemented on a large scale. Therefore, this study is useful to deepen the understanding of the physical mechanisms of UHI and provide practical approaches to fight the UHI for the urban planners, public health officials, and city decision-makers in China.

scholarly journals Characterization of the subsurface urban heat island and its sources in the Milan city area, Italy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Previati ◽  
Giovanni B. Crosta
Keyword(s):  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Shallow Aquifer ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Groundwater Temperature ◽  
City Area ◽  
Groundwater Environment ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
The Impact

AbstractUrban areas are major contributors to the alteration of the local atmospheric and groundwater environment. The impact of such changes on the groundwater thermal regime is documented worldwide by elevated groundwater temperature in city centers with respect to the surrounding rural areas. This study investigates the subsurface urban heat island (SUHI) in the aquifers beneath the Milan city area in northern Italy, and assesses the natural and anthropogenic controls on groundwater temperatures within the urban area by analyzing groundwater head and temperature records acquired in the 2016–2020 period. This analysis demonstrates the occurrence of a SUHI with up to 3 °C intensity and reveals a correlation between the density of building/subsurface infrastructures and the mean annual groundwater temperature. Vertical heat fluxes to the aquifer are strongly related to the depth of the groundwater and the density of surface structures and infrastructures. The heat accumulation in the subsurface is reflected by a constant groundwater warming trend between +0.1 and + 0.4 °C/year that leads to a gain of 25 MJ/m2 of thermal energy per year in the shallow aquifer inside the SUHI area. Future monitoring of groundwater temperatures, combined with numerical modeling of coupled groundwater flow and heat transport, will be essential to reveal what this trend is controlled by and to make predictions on the lateral and vertical extent of the groundwater SUHI in the study area.

scholarly journals Biomimicry-Based Strategies for Urban Heat Island Mitigation: A Numerical Case Study under Tropical Climate

Biomimetics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 48
Author(s):  
Kevin Araque ◽  
Paola Palacios ◽  
Dafni Mora ◽  
Miguel Chen Austin
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Urban Heat Island ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Outdoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Heat Island ◽  
Urban Heat ◽  
Historical Heritage ◽  
Pet Index ◽  
Radiant Temperature

In recent years, demographic growth has caused cities to expand their urban areas, increasing the risk of overheating, creating insurmountable microclimatic conditions within the urban area, which is why studies have been carried out on the urban heat island effect (UHI) and its mitigation. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate the cooling potential in the application of strategies based on biomimicry for the microclimate in a historical heritage city of Panama. For this, three case studies (base case, case 1, and case 2) of outdoor thermal comfort were evaluated, in which the Envi-met software was used to emulate and evaluate the thermal performance of these strategies during March (highest temperature month) and October (rainier month). The strategies used were extracted from the contrast of zebra skin, human skin, evaporative cooling, and ant skin. The results showed a reduction of 2.8 °C in the air temperature at 11:00, the radiant temperature decreased by 2.2 °C, and the PET index managed to reduce the thermal comfort indicator among its categories. The importance of thinking based on biomimicry in sustainable strategies is concluded; although significant changes were obtained, high risks of discomfort persist due to the layout and proximity of the building.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document