Numerical and experimental study on integrated strategic simulation model of urban environment
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Construction Management and Engineering
Abstract
The microclimate parameters in urban areas have important impacts on the energy performance of buildings and the potential of passive cooling measures. For example, the urban heat-island (UHI) effect results in increased local atmospheric and surface temperatures in urban areas compared to the surrounding rural areas. Thus, the UHI will increase the overheating risk and the peak cooling load of buildings. It may particularly have a negative impact on night cooling strategies within the UHI during periods of hot weather. Effective urban planning and building design can have a beneficial effect on the urban climate and contribute towards reducing the intensity of the urban heat island, which improves the conditions in living spaces as well as directly reducing the peak cooling load of a building. The vision of the proposed project is to develop a practical, robust, urban thermal simulation method by using Digital Element Model (DEM) to store urban building geometry and boundary information and integrating it with the coupled thermal and airflow model. The DEM is a compact way of storing 3D information using a 2D matrix of elevation values; each pixel represents building heights and can be displayed in a grey-shaded digital image, which has a grey-level proportional to the level of the urban surface. The DEM is capable to handle large amount of data in less time. It is also able to present the geometrical relations among the buildings in the studied area. It has been proven to be an effective way of urban analysis. This model will be used to perform parametric study for various configurations of urban form and texture, building and road surface materials and vegetation in order to analyse Urban Heat-Island (UHI) mitigation strategies and potential passive measures of energy-efficient buildings. The principal objectives of this proposed three-year project are: (1) To develop a dynamically coupled thermal and airflow urban model integrating with the Digital Element Model (DEM), and to validate the model in association with experimental investigations in the urban canyon; (2) To link the proposed numerical urban model with the existing thermal and airflow building model (developed by the PI) to conduct an analysis of the interrelationship of the urban microclimate and building energy performance; (3)To perform an urban parametric study and analyse the potential of UHI mitigation strategies and their impact on the urban environment and energy consumption (CO2 emission) and (4)To assess urban and building thermal comfort. The prospected deliverables are: D1: A coupled thermal and airflow urban dynamic model integrated with the Digital Element Model (DEM) together with a series of numerical and visualised simulation results of different urban configurations for urban environment analysis; D2: A integrated urban microclimatic and building energy simulation model; D3: A series of parametric assessments for the urban environment and the potential of UHI mitigation strategies and D4: A series of assessments for passive measures of energy-efficient building design in the urban context.
Organisations
- University of Reading (Lead Research Organisation)
- MAX FORDHAM LLP (Collaboration)
- Chongqing University (Collaboration)
- Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (Project Partner)
- Max Fordham (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Short and Associates (Project Partner)
- Chongqing University (Project Partner)
- Jaros Baum & Bolles UK Ltd (Project Partner)
People |
ORCID iD |
Runming Yao (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Erdal Turkbeyler (Co-Author)
(2011)
Urban Microclimate and Renewable Energy Use in Cities
Gao Y
(2012)
Field studies on the effect of built forms on urban wind environments
in Renewable Energy
Runming Yao (Author)
(2013)
Urban Microclimates and Urban Heat Island in Chongqing, China
Shahrestani M
(2015)
A field study of urban microclimates in London
in Renewable Energy
Turkbeyler E
(2016)
The Impact of Urban Wind Environments on Natural Ventilation
in International Journal of Ventilation
Turkbeyler E.
(2009)
Experimental study of urban microclimate for a building complex.
Xie X
(2020)
Impact of neighbourhood-scale climate characteristics on building heating demand and night ventilation cooling potential
in Renewable Energy
Yao R
(2015)
An integrated study of urban microclimates in Chongqing, China: Historical weather data, transverse measurement and numerical simulation
in Sustainable Cities and Society
Yao R
(2011)
A simplified mathematical model for urban microclimate simulation
in Building and Environment
Description | - the layout and configurations of buildings cause the variation of microclimate from one location to another; - the evapotranspiration effects from vegetation can help to cool down the ambient air especially when there is a traffic heat source at present; -the surrounding high-rise buildings can block the direct solar radiation, but at the same time may decrease the wind permeability. - The combined effect should be considered case by case; - the potential of solar energy in an urban area is determined mainly by the sky view factor and the orientation to the most intensive afternoon solar radiation. The less shelter from the neighbouring obstructions, the higher solar energy potential could achieve; and - the wind potential in the urban area is significantly reduced due to the sheltering effects, but urban texture still plays a role. -When the street axis is parallel to the wind direction, the most wind potential is attained; and the least normally occurs when the wind is perpendicular to the street axis. The outcomes of this study reveal that the microclimatic parameters are significantly influenced by the attributes of urban textures and consequently, buildings within an urban area, are operating against their own individual microclimatic variables rather than the meteorological weather data. This underlines the need for a radical change towards considering the microclimate information for urban planning and building thermal and energy performance assessments. In addition, variation of wind speed, solar radiation and temperature in the studied urban area in London provides an exemplary case to demonstrate the importance of considering the microclimatic parameters in feasibility studies for implementation of renewable energy technologies in both design and policy making levels. |
Exploitation Route | The findings will help the master plan in terms of considering the urban forms; vegetation and mitigation urban heat island. |
Sectors | Construction Education Energy Environment |
Description | Till now, over 22 citation web of science; 30 recorded from googlescholar; method has been used in Master design research in China and led to a new UK-CHina collaberative research 'Low carbon climate responsive heating and cooling solutions'. |
First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
Sector | Construction,Energy,Environment |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | CIBSE Guides |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Description | China Green Building Council Committee member |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Description | Chongqing Green Building |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Impact | Provided evidence of Urban Heat Island in Chongqing to the government; Urban greenery strategy promoted by Chongqing Green Building Council; Outdoor thermal environment expected to be improved by mitigating overheating through vegetation. |
Description | Educational development /Book/Course |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | * Book Chapter - Urban Microclimates and simulation in Yao Ed.(2013) Design and management of sustainable built environments, Springer. over 11,338 downloads in 2013 ranked top 25% most downloaded eBook on SpringerLink; * teaching materials for the new course Design and management of sustainable built environments. |
Description | China-UK Low Carbon Green Building and Eco-cites network, University of Reading |
Amount | £35,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Chongqing University |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | China |
Start | 09/2011 |
End | 05/2014 |
Description | Development of weather data for design by incorporating climate change scenarios and urban configurations |
Amount | £3,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | Walker2012 |
Organisation | University of Reading |
Department | Walker Institute for Climate Research |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2012 |
End | 08/2012 |
Description | Progressing Eco-city Policies into Main-stream Practice |
Amount | £325,120 (GBP) |
Funding ID | SPF |
Organisation | Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2011 |
End | 06/2012 |
Description | Urban Microclimates and Urban Heat Island in Chongqing, China |
Amount | £7,500 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 446 |
Organisation | Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2011 |
End | 02/2013 |
Description | China-UK Green Building and Eco-cites network |
Organisation | Chongqing University |
Country | China |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The project aims to enhance the partnership between the UK universities ( Reading, Cambridge, Loughborough, Cardiff) and Chinese universities and research institutions in the field of sustainable built environment. |
Collaborator Contribution | The partners have been actively involved in collaboration in research and organisation of conferences. |
Impact | Joint organisation of international conference; Joint research application; Joint publications |
Start Year | 2011 |
Description | Chongqing University Lohcool |
Organisation | Chongqing University |
Country | China |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Setting up international collaborations in the low carbon cities area. |
Collaborator Contribution | Contribution to the modelling; Exploring case studies in Chongqing; Constitution to the publications |
Impact | A simplified mathematical model for urban microclimate simulation |
Start Year | 2008 |
Description | Max Fordham LLP |
Organisation | Max Fordham LLP |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Linking the collaboration between the academic and design practice |
Collaborator Contribution | Providing the need from design prospective; Contribution to the journal paper publication |
Impact | The Impact of Urban Wind Environments on Natural Ventilation |
Start Year | 2008 |
Description | EPSRC Urban Microclimate project |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Introduction of latest outcome from the project at the School Seminar in the University of Reading. One of the Seminar Series organised by the School of Construction Management and Engineering at the University of Reading attended by both staff and students from the School, as well as by people from other Schools. After the presentation, urban heat islands phenomena have been further understood. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Introduction of urban climate study at the University of Reading |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Updated research output from the project has been introduced to the colleagues including staff and student as well as architecture community in Cambridge. One of the Seminar Series organised by the Martin Centre Research Seminar at the Department of Architecture attended by both staff and students from the Department, as well as by people from other Departments and the general Cambridge community. After the talk, colleagues from the University of Cambridge expressed interests in collaborative research and publications. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
Description | Presentation: A tool of microclimates simulation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation to the company directors of RWDI, simulation consultant company. A number of presentations and discussions were committed from May to December 2011 with RWDI in order to develop a KTP project. After the presentation, the company decided to apply the KTP for further development of the tool. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | Presentation: A tool of simulation of Urban Heat Island |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | The research outcome of the Tool of Simulation of Urban Heat Island has been presented in a British Council organised event 'UK high technology transfer to China' in 10-12 April in Chongqing. The description of the poster of the research outcome including Urban Heat Island simulation tool has been exhibited in the 10th China Chongqing High-tech Fair and the 6th China International Exhibition of Military & Civil Technologies (CCHTF & CIEMCT) on 12-15 April, 2012. After the presentation, local media interviewed. Further collaboration in studying the UHI in Chongqing was proposed with Chongqing academic colleagues and funding bodies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
Description | Simulation tool of urban microclimates |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation to the consultants at the AEDAS, an Architecture and Urban Planning Company to explore potential application in practice. Introduction of the microclimate simulation tool in Aedas in order to seek further funding such as KTP project. After the presentation, a simulation project was assigned for a case study. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
Description | Urban microclimates and renewable energy use in cities |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | In this study, the accessibility to the solar energy and wind energy in the city environment is analyzed with respect to building layouts and their orientations. For passive solar housing in cities or urban applications of wind turbines and/or solar energy, the main challenge is the obstructions of the urban layout. This study provides an assessment of this problem. The speech was presented at the Low Energy Architecture section with about 40 audiences. After the presentation, international audience from China expressed interests in research collaboration |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |