Simulation pathway for estimating heat island influence on urban/suburban building space-conditioning loads and response to facade material changes

• Published in: Building and environment 2019-03, Vol.150, p.195-205
• Main Authors: Gunawardena, Kanchane, Kershaw, Tristan, Steemers, Koen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Buildings; Canyons; Computational efficiency; Computer simulation; Conditioning; Energy; Energy consumption; Environmental changes; Estimation; Extreme heat; Facade materials; Facades; Feedback loops; Heat; Heat island effect; Lightweight; Loads (forces); Microclimate; Office buildings; Simulation; Space-conditioning loads; Street canyons; Suburban energy use; Thermal simulation; Urban areas; Urban energy use; Urban environments; Urban heat islands; Weight reduction
• ISSN: 0360-1323; 1873-684X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.01.006

Environmental thermal loading on urban buildings is expected to increase owing to the combined influence of a warming climate, increasing frequency and severity of extreme heat events, and the urban heat island (UHI) effect. This paper presents how a computationally efficient estimation pathway could be utilised to understand UHI influence on building energy simulations. As an example, this is examined by considering UHI influence on the space-conditioning loads of office buildings within urban and suburban conditions, and how the trend of replacing heavyweight facades with lightweight alternatives could affect their surrounding microclimates, as well as building energy use. The paper addresses this through simulations of street canyons based on the urban Moorgate and suburban Wimbledon areas of London. Results show that with all scenarios including the UHI within a dynamic thermal simulation presents between 2.5 and 9.6% net increase in annual space-conditioning. The study also demonstrates that the trend in urban centres to replace heavyweight facades with lightweight insulated alternatives increases space-conditioning loads, which in turn increases UHI intensity to create a warming feedback loop. The study therefore stresses the significance of including microclimate loading from the UHI in estimating urban and suburban energy use, and the combined simulation approach is presented as a computationally efficient pathway for use by built environment designers. •To assess UHI and material profile influence, the study presents the combined simulation approach of using an urban climate model and a building energy model as a computationally efficient pathway.•Including the UHI within a dynamic simulation presents an adverse net effect on annual office space-conditioning, with influence greatest with lightweight material profiles in both urban and suburban contexts.•The trend in urban centres to replace heavyweight facades with lightweight alternatives increases space-conditioning loads to create a warming feedback loop, while in suburban locations it may lead to little benefit.