A comparison of thermal comfort conditions in four urban spaces by means of measurements and modelling techniques

Acero, Juan A.; Herranz-Pascual, Karmele

doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.06.028

Cited by 162 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…This was not surprising as other studies have noted that elements such as wind speed and absorbed longwave radiation can have an impact on thermal comfort [45][46][47]. One of the potential implications of these results is that under conditions in which the absorbed shortwave is lower (such as in hot and humid conditions with cloudy skies), the ordering of the effectiveness of these strategies could change.…”

Section: Differences Between Settingsmentioning

confidence: 84%

Analysis and Comparison of Shading Strategies to Increase Human Thermal Comfort in Urban Areas

2018

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Abstract:With the expected increase in warmer conditions caused by climate change, heat-related illnesses are becoming a more pressing issue. One way that humans can protect themselves from this is to seek shade. The design of urban spaces can provide individuals with a variety of ways to obtain this shade. The objective of this study was to perform a detailed evaluation and comparison of three shading strategies that could be used in an urban environment: shade from a building, from a tree, and from an umbrella. This was done through using field measurements to calculate the impact of each strategy on a thermal comfort index (Comfort Formula (COMFA)) in two urban settings during sunny days of the summer of 2013 and 2014 in London, Canada. Building shade was found to be the most effective cooling strategy, followed by the tree strategy and the umbrella strategy. As expected, the main determinant of this ranking was a strategy's ability to block incoming shortwave radiation. Further analysis indicated that changes in the convective loss of energy and in longwave radiation absorption had a smaller impact that caused variations in the strategy effectiveness between settings. This suggests that under non-sunny days, these rankings could change.

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Section: Differences Between Settingsmentioning

confidence: 84%

Analysis and Comparison of Shading Strategies to Increase Human Thermal Comfort in Urban Areas

2018

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“…These can be used to predict future impacts in modelled scenarios. Climate change induced heat stress (Acero & Herranz-Pascual, 2015) and storm water runoff (Van Mechelen et al, 2014), traffic-related pollution (Silva & Mendes, 2012) and municipal waste flows (Oyoo et al, 2011) are a few examples. The outcome of a model assessment, however, is only as good as its input and it is here that uncertainties about future economic and social activities or the effect of mitigating measures come in.…”

Section: Quality For Whom? Objective and Subjective Measures Of Urbanmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Necessity of an Integrated, Participative and Adaptive Approach to Sustainable Urban Environmental Quality Planning

2017

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On the necessity of an integrated, participative and adaptive approach to urban environmental quality in planning sustainable cities Key words: urban environmental quality; urban quality of life; sustainable urban development; trade-offs; quality dimensions. Rien van Stigt, Peter Driessen and Tejo Spit AbstractBased on a review of recent literature, this paper addresses the question of how urban planners can steer urban environmental quality, given the fact that it is multidimensional in character, is assessed largely in subjective terms and varies across time. A novel perspective of urban environmental quality is proposed, exploring three questions that are at the core of planning and designing cities: 'quality of what?', 'quality for whom?' and 'quality at what time?' The dilemmas that urban planners face in answering these questions are illustrated using secondary material. The three questions provide a framework that offers urban planners perspectives for action in finding their way out of the dilemmas identified. Rather than further detailing the exact nature of urban quality, this novel perspective calls for an approach to urban planning that is integrated, participative and adaptive.

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“…Thus, different solutions can be evaluated with the aim of local microclimate amelioration. In the context of urban design, ENVI-met has been extensively used because of its capability of combining spatial variation in complex systems and thermal comfort [33]. In this paper, it is used to simulate and compare conditions generated by modifying urban elements such as vegetation and surface materials, which are the main factors in outdoor space renovation.…”

Section: Case Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2) Compared to extensive field measurements, it is faster and less expensive, and it also allows comparisons among numerous case studies and project scenarios [16,[31][32][33]. Urban microclimate models differ substantially according to their physical basis and their temporal and spatial scale.…”

Section: The Nexus Between Microclimate and Urban Quality: Thermal Comentioning

confidence: 99%

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Urban microclimate and thermal comfort modelling: strategies for urban renovation

Tumini¹,

García²,

Rada³

2016

International Journal of Sustainable Building Technology and Ur

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a planning and urban design, university of bío-bío, concepción, chile; b urbanism and territory government, technical university of madrid, madrid, Spain ABSTRACTThe urban microclimate plays an important role in building energy consumption and thermal comfort in outdoor spaces. Nowadays, cities need to increase energy efficiency, reduce pollutant emissions and mitigate the evident lack of sustainability. In light of this, attention has focused on the bioclimatic concepts use in the urban development. However, the speculative unsustainability of the growth model highlights the need to redirect the construction sector towards urban renovation using a bioclimatic approach. The public space plays a key role in improving the quality of today's cities, especially in terms of providing places for citizens to meet and socialize in adequate thermal conditions. Thermal comfort affects perception of the environment, so microclimate conditions can be decisive for the success or failure of outdoor urban spaces and the activities held in them. For these reasons, the main focus of this work is on the definition of bioclimatic strategies for existing urban spaces, based on morpho-typological components, urban microclimate conditions and comfort requirements for all kinds of citizens. Two case studies were selected in Madrid, in a social housing neighbourhood constructed in the 1970s based on Rational Architecture style. Several renovation scenarios were performed using a computer simulation process based in ENVI-met and diverse microclimate conditions were compared. In addition, thermal comfort evaluation was carried out using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) in order to investigate the relationship between microclimate conditions and thermal comfort perception. This paper introduces the microclimate computer simulation process as a valuable support for decision-making for neighbourhood renovation projects in order to provide new and better solutions according to the thermal quality of public spaces and reducing energy consumption by creating and selecting better microclimate areas.

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A comparison of thermal comfort conditions in four urban spaces by means of measurements and modelling techniques

Cited by 162 publications

References 46 publications

Analysis and Comparison of Shading Strategies to Increase Human Thermal Comfort in Urban Areas

Analysis and Comparison of Shading Strategies to Increase Human Thermal Comfort in Urban Areas

On the Necessity of an Integrated, Participative and Adaptive Approach to Sustainable Urban Environmental Quality Planning

Urban microclimate and thermal comfort modelling: strategies for urban renovation

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