Analysis of the urban heat island effects on building energy consumption

Urban areas usually experience higher temperatures when compared to their rural surroundings. Several studies underlined that specific urban conditions are strictly connected with the Urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon, which consists in the environmental overheating related to anthropic activities....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of energy and environmental engineering 2015-03, Vol.6 (1), p.91-99
Main Authors: Magli, Susanna, Lodi, Chiara, Lombroso, Luca, Muscio, Alberto, Teggi, Sergio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Buildings
Construction
Cooling
Electricity distribution
Energy
Energy consumption
Energy modeling
Load
Microclimate
Original Research
Radiation
Renewable and Green Energy
Rural areas
Simulation
Software
Summer
Temperature
Thermal energy
University buildings
Urban areas
Urban heat islands
Weather
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Summary:Urban areas usually experience higher temperatures when compared to their rural surroundings. Several studies underlined that specific urban conditions are strictly connected with the Urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon, which consists in the environmental overheating related to anthropic activities. As a matter of fact, urban areas, characterized by massive constructions that reduce local vegetation coverage, are subject to the absorption of a great amount of solar radiation (short wave) which is only partially released into the atmosphere by radiation in the thermal infrared (long wave). On the contrary, green areas and rural environments in general show a reduced UHI effect, that is lower air temperatures, due to evapo-transpiration fluxes. Several studies demonstrate that urban microclimate affects buildings’ energy consumption and calculations based on typical meteorological year could misestimate their actual energy consumption. In this study, two different sets of meteorological data are used for the calculation of the heating and cooling energy needs of an existing university building. The building is modeled using TRNSYS v.17 software. The first set of data was collected by a weather station located in the city center of Modena, while the second set of data was collected by another station, located in the surrounding area of the city, near to the studied building. The influence of the different meteorological situations described by the two weather stations are analyzed and assumed to be representative of the UHI effect. Furthermore, the effects of UHI mitigation strategies on the building energy needs are evaluated and discussed.
ISSN:2008-9163
2251-6832
DOI:10.1007/s40095-014-0154-9