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Abstract Extreme heat events have become more common and more severe during summer than ever before as a result of the warming climate in Australia. The impact of urban morphology and green coverage on outdoor thermal comfort has been the subject of extensive research, however, their link to suburban developments of different historic periods is still underexplored. This paper investigates and compares the outdoor thermal performance of ten suburban areas constructed since the late nineteenth century in Greater Adelaide, which were built to different planning ideals and concepts of their time. Microclimate models of two precedents for five development eras were constructed in ENVI-met, validated with site data related to a recent heatwave event in 2023, and then used to facilitate further investigation of the impact of development patterns on outdoor thermal comfort. This study examines how these urban patterns perform in scenarios of varying development intensity and greenery ratio. In these case studies, the distance between buildings, streets’ spatial ratio and green coverage has a significant impact on the thermal environment. The results underline the impact of solar exposure on outdoor thermal performance even in lower-density suburban areas. Some of the outcomes of the study are counter-intuitive to conventional assumptions about urban design typologies. In this comparison, for example, one of the “green” model garden city developments did not perform as well as denser 19th-century suburbs. The results can support better decision-making for future urban planning in Australia and other regions with similar climate conditions. The study shows that real performance does not always align with stated green ambitions and, urban design should consider and evaluate heat mitigation through evidence-based testing to achieve real green development.

The preservation of cultural artifacts within museums and historical buildings requires control of microclimatic conditions, and the constantly evolving climate certainly poses a challenge to maintaining recommended conditions. Focused on the Archaeological Museum of Delphi and the Church of Acheiropoietos in Greece, our study evaluates the hygrothermal behavior of these buildings with a specific emphasis on the preservation of cultural heritage objects hosted there. An innovative approach to the real-time analysis of data is utilized, aiming to achieve a timely detection of extreme temperature and humidity levels. A one-year monitoring campaign was carried out to achieve a detailed assessment of the indoor climate in selected museums and historical buildings in Greece. The monitoring campaign was performed using dataloggers that were set to measure and record temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) values hourly. The results allowed for the detection of extreme temperature and relative humidity values, pinpointing the time period that requires more attention. The museum’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems provide temperature control for visitor comfort, but the temperature still rises in summer, highlighting the impact of external climate factors. The church’s lack of HVAC systems widens the temperature range compared to the museum, but significant hourly fluctuations are not observed, underlining the building’s high thermal mass and inertia. Both buildings demonstrate a significant response to changes in outdoor temperature, emphasizing the need for future adaptation to climate change. The HMRhs and PRD indices indicate minimal microclimate risk in both buildings for temperature and RH, reducing the probability of material damage. The church’s slightly higher HMRhs index values, attributed to relative humidity, increases susceptibility due to sensitive materials. Overall, the study highlights the importance of managing microclimatic conditions in historical buildings and proposes careful adaptations for the protection of cultural heritage.

The preservation of cultural artifacts within museums and historical buildings requires control of microclimatic conditions, and the constantly evolving climate certainly poses a challenge to maintaining recommended conditions. Focused on the Archaeological Museum of Delphi and the Church of Acheiropoietos in Greece, our study evaluates the hygrothermal behavior of these buildings with a specific emphasis on the preservation of cultural heritage objects hosted there. An innovative approach to the real-time analysis of data is utilized, aiming to achieve a timely detection of extreme temperature and humidity levels. A one-year monitoring campaign was carried out to achieve a detailed assessment of the indoor climate in selected museums and historical buildings in Greece. The monitoring campaign was performed using dataloggers that were set to measure and record temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) values hourly. The results allowed for the detection of extreme temperature and relative humidity values, pinpointing the time period that requires more attention. The museum's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems provide temperature control for visitor comfort, but the temperature still rises in summer, highlighting the impact of external climate factors. The church's lack of HVAC systems widens the temperature range compared to the museum, but significant hourly fluctuations are not observed, underlining the building's high thermal mass and inertia. Both buildings demonstrate a significant response to changes in outdoor temperature, emphasizing the need for future adaptation to climate change. The HMRhs and PRD indices indicate minimal microclimate risk in both buildings for temperature and RH, reducing the probability of material damage. The church's slightly higher HMRhs index values, attributed to relative humidity, increases susceptibility due to sensitive materials. Overall, the study highlights the importance of managing microclimatic conditions in historical buildings and proposes careful adaptations for the protection of cultural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mist spraying is an active cooling technology used to alleviate heat stress during hot summers. However, there is limited experimental research on the relationship between ambient thermal parameters and spray cooling efficiency, as well as the transient and short-term thermal perceptions of local residents. In this study, an intermittent mist spraying system was set up, and environmental measurements, coupled with questionnaire surveys, were conducted under typical high temperature and still air conditions. The aim was to investigate the relationship among environmental factors, spray cooling effects, and dynamic improvements in human thermal perception. The results showed that higher ambient temperatures resulted in a more significant cooling effect, with a maximum value of 5.68 °C. Upon entering the spraying area, people experienced a large perceptual change, with the mean thermal sensation and thermal comfort change covering 73% and 62% of the total change ranges, respectively. This study indicated that the mist spray system can be activated if the ambient temperature exceeds 32.5 °C, helping local residents maintain a physiological state close to slightly hot and neutral comfort. These findings suggest that mist spraying can be applied in environmental design as an outdoor cooling spot to mitigate urban overheating, providing valuable insights for the application of mist spray systems in actual outdoor settings in hot-humid areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Green infrastructure and nature-based solutions are crucial for the sustainable transformation of cities into more resilient and inclusive places. However, the planning and design of these interventions must be tailored to different urban environments and socioeconomic contexts. Despite being one of the most urbanised global areas, the Latin American and Caribbean region still needs to be more researched. In this regard, this contribution provides an analytical and design framework for integrating nature-based solutions in dense urban contexts for microclimate mitigation and improved usability. It is constructed by considering the morphological, historical, climatic, and administrative peculiarities of Latin America, and it has been applied and tested in the case study of Bogotá (Colombia). The result is a matrix for constructing design strategies based on three key attributes of outdoor spaces and four design components. Article info Received: 18/03/2024; Revised: 22/04/2024; Accepted: 02/05/2024

Featured Application: This study can guide urban planners and urban designers to think about how to improve thermal comfort by optimizing street flow lines, the locations of open space, and greening arrangements in pedestrian commercial streets, especially those in the hot summer and cold winter regions of China. Pedestrian commercial streets are an important part of a city. However, the open outdoor street is easily affected by the external climate, and a poor microclimate environment can indirectly affect the volume of visitors to the commercial street. This paper takes pedestrian commercial streets in regions with hot summers and cold winters as the research object in order to obtain reasonable prototypes of street space. Adopting the experimental method of controlling variables, microclimate simulation analysis is conducted on different street flow lines, various locations of open space, and the different greening arrangements of typical street spaces. This paper also proposes design strategies for improving the microclimate environment, such as reserving ventilation passages in the dominant wind direction, setting up air buffer areas to increase the "wind storage" effect, building an open space in the upwind direction to increase the "wind absorption" effect, preventing planar greening space from hindering airflow in streets with poor ventilation, and establishing planar green space in the upwind direction to increase the coverage of the cooling effect of plants. In this paper, comfort in the outdoor microclimate comfort is taken into consideration in commercial street design, aiming to achieve the revitalization of commercial streets through "micro renovation" and provide some reference for the future design of commercial streets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life quality in urban contexts is related to several interconnected factors. Lots of innovative technologies allow for the gathering of real-time information, which is helpful for analysing and interpreting significant urban dynamics and citizens' behaviours. The presence of people in outdoor environments, particularly for social and recreational purposes, can be considered as a qualitative indicator, giving evidence of a living environment. The relationship between urban areas and the climate context has been addressed in recent years by the scientific literature. However, these studies did not report the direct correlation between people's presence and outdoor thermal comfort in outdoor spaces. The aim of this paper is to assess whether the presence of people in outdoor public spaces, detected through human presence sensors, can be associated with outdoor microclimatic conditions (both with on-site measurement and software simulation) and outdoor thermal comfort indicators (as physiological equivalent temperature). The question is whether there exists a direct correlation between outdoor microclimate in public spaces and people's presence, and if a public event plays a role in changing it. The research compares on-site measurements of physics variables (e.g., air temperature) and people's presence with outdoor microclimate maps by Envi-met. The case study, carried out in the framework of the H2020 project ROCK—Regeneration and Optimization of Cultural Heritage in Creative and Knowledge cities, focuses on two squares located in Bologna's historic city center. The conclusions show that public events are the main deciding factor influencing square crowding; nevertheless, the study reveals a relationship between thermal comfort and the number of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mist spraying is an active cooling technology used to alleviate heat stress during hot summers. However, there is limited experimental research on the relationship between ambient thermal parameters and spray cooling efficiency, as well as the transient and short-term thermal perceptions of local residents. In this study, an intermittent mist spraying system was set up, and environmental measurements, coupled with questionnaire surveys, were conducted under typical high temperature and still air conditions. The aim was to investigate the relationship among environmental factors, spray cooling effects, and dynamic improvements in human thermal perception. The results showed that higher ambient temperatures resulted in a more significant cooling effect, with a maximum value of 5.68 °C. Upon entering the spraying area, people experienced a large perceptual change, with the mean thermal sensation and thermal comfort change covering 73% and 62% of the total change ranges, respectively. This study indicated that the mist spray system can be activated if the ambient temperature exceeds 32.5 °C, helping local residents maintain a physiological state close to slightly hot and neutral comfort. These findings suggest that mist spraying can be applied in environmental design as an outdoor cooling spot to mitigate urban overheating, providing valuable insights for the application of mist spray systems in actual outdoor settings in hot-humid areas.

This study considered Jindai Street in Huizhou, Guangdong, as an example to discuss the impact of different tree-planting locations on microclimate and thermal comfort in the micropublic spaces. The computational fluid dynamics software PHOENICS was employed to simulate the microclimate and thermal comfort of 5 different tree-planting locations, including the centre (CO), the southwest corner (SW), the northwest corner (NW), the northeast corner (NE), the southeast corner (SE) and with no trees (NT) in the site. The results showed that planting one tree can reduce the average air temperature at the pedestrian height (1.5 m from the ground) by 1.83~2.48°C, increase the average relative humidity by 5.11~6.85%, increase the average wind speed by 0.15~0.29 m/s, and decrease the average UTCI by 1.63~2.30°C. A tree planting on the southwest side has the best cooling effect in the afternoon. Planting one tree can significantly increase the air humidity no matter the planting location. Trees can have a better effect on improving ventilation when poorly ventilated at the site. The maximum UTCI drop was 3.35°C under the tree canopy. The study clarified the microclimate and thermal comfort effect of tree-planting effects of different locations in the micropublic space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how urban dispersion can act as passive thermal comfort method in New Cairo, Egypt. Using shrub dispersion patterns to determine the optimum dispersion pattern for urban settlements in hot climates. Shrubs' self-organised patterns were examined, then translated into mathematical equations that formed the basis of an algorithm to guide the redistribution of existing buildings via four proposals. These proposals were examined using the Universal Thermal Comfort Index to compare them to the existing urban dispersion patterns. The numerical and visual outcomes indicate that the proposed dispersion patterns can achieve more comfortable urban microclimate than the existing conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trees provide shade, absorb and reflect solar radiation, and regulate air temperature and humidity through transpiration. Integrating these regulatory mechanisms into numerical simulations enables the analysis of their aerodynamic and thermal effects under various environmental conditions. However, trees not only modify the underlying surface properties but also influence turbulence and energy exchange with the surrounding environment, increasing the complexity of numerical simulations. Therefore, selecting appropriate numerical simulation methods is crucial for improving the accuracy and efficiency of simulations. This review focuses on the advantages, limitations, and applicable scenarios of numerical simulation methods for studying the impact of trees on the microclimate. It covers the energy and mass exchange between trees and the outdoor environment, the modeling of tree canopy morphologies, the treatment of governing equations (i.e., momentum, temperature, water vapor component, and turbulence transport equations), and the key parameter values within these equations. Additionally, the numerical simulation process of coupling the impact of trees on the microclimate with various energy balance equations is outlined. Relatively few studies have focused on the unsteady numerical simulation of the seasonal and diurnal variations in microclimate regulation by trees. There is also a lack of basic parameters of trees, making it challenging to reflect their dynamic regulation mechanisms. Obtaining accurate characteristic parameters of trees and key parameter values in the governing equations is crucial for the accuracy of numerical simulations. Furthermore, several challenging issues are discussed, aiming to provide insightful direction for future research. Numerical simulation methods for investigating the effects of trees on the microclimate. [Display omitted] • Review of numerical simulation methods for the impact of trees on microclimate. • Strength, limitation, and applicable scenario of simulation methods are discussed. • Characteristic parameter values used in simulations of tree effects are summarized. • Regulation mechanisms and results of tree effects on the microclimate are discussed. • Several challenging topics are proposed to provide guidance for future researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian commercial streets are an important part of a city. However, the open outdoor street is easily affected by the external climate, and a poor microclimate environment can indirectly affect the volume of visitors to the commercial street. This paper takes pedestrian commercial streets in regions with hot summers and cold winters as the research object in order to obtain reasonable prototypes of street space. Adopting the experimental method of controlling variables, microclimate simulation analysis is conducted on different street flow lines, various locations of open space, and the different greening arrangements of typical street spaces. This paper also proposes design strategies for improving the microclimate environment, such as reserving ventilation passages in the dominant wind direction, setting up air buffer areas to increase the “wind storage” effect, building an open space in the upwind direction to increase the “wind absorption” effect, preventing planar greening space from hindering airflow in streets with poor ventilation, and establishing planar green space in the upwind direction to increase the coverage of the cooling effect of plants. In this paper, comfort in the outdoor microclimate comfort is taken into consideration in commercial street design, aiming to achieve the revitalization of commercial streets through “micro renovation” and provide some reference for the future design of commercial streets.

The urban configuration in the Mediterranean area, which has noticeable solar radiation and significant thermal oscillation, is one of the factors that affect the microclimate and the urban heat island phenomenon of the cities located in that zone. To contribute to the improvement of urban comfort, this work presents an experimental methodological proposal for the analysis and multicriteria optimization of performance indicators using a parametric workflow through Grasshopper. This workflow can lead to the development of a set of environmental design criteria as support tools in the design of the urban configuration. The methodology is based on the quantification of two parameters on the analysis and management of daylight in interior spaces by means of dynamic metrics and, on the other hand, on the evaluation of hygrothermal conditions and the urban heat island effect, which affect both the daytime comfort of passersby and the nighttime comfort of dwellings. This study considers the most typical variables of urban layout, both morphological and material. The case study analyzed is located in the city of Seville (Spain), which has a significant percentage of its contemporary buildings without a suitable adaptation to local climate conditions. The results obtained from the case study prove the potential of the proposed methodology to evaluate and optimize lighting and thermal performance at the neighbourhood scale. Thus, it provides urban planners with a powerful decision support tool for both urban expansion and urban renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research work focuses on the study of microclimate conditions of two squares of Madrid, a city with a considerable Urban Heat Island. The process includes field measurements of the surface and radiant temperatures of materials on buildings façades, pavements and urban furniture. Air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed and direction were also measured. A virtual 3D model was used for sun exposure and solar radiation simulations. The urban microclimate regulation capacity of the finishing materials and shading are numerically defined. Considering the results obtained from measurements and simulations, a procedure for open spaces' microclimate variety classification and identification is proposed: An approach to describe the thermal level for open spaces, in order to help the urban designers and planners to provide high microclimate variety for the users to meet their difference thermal demand. This is as a key element to identify environmental quality and to obtain thermal comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Use of outdoor microclimate maps to compare different design options at urban scale. • Tool to evaluate impact on urban comfort of the place/city garden design. • Decision-making tool to improve urban climate design considering outdoor comfort. Abstract The study is aimed at evaluating the potential effects of alternative design solutions with different green elements on outdoor microclimate with relation to a real case study application. The study has been commissioned in the framework of the follow up of a design competition, launched by the Municipality of Cesena to reshape a square in the historic city center, when a public debate raised around the arrangement of trees and green surfaces envisaged by the architectural layout. Different options were considered and the design team and the public authorities sought for evidences on the deriving benefits in the respective configurations in order to properly drive the process. Thus the scientific research approach was applied to investigate the potential impacts according to a microclimate oriented perspective. The outcomes showed that green surfaces significantly improved the outdoor comfort conditions compared to original paved ones and that a minor contribution derived by the trees arrangement. The paper reports the applied methodology according to the specific context, the interpretation of results and how they have been translated into user friendly visualizations in order to make them understandable to a broader and non technical audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trees can effectively regulate the urban microclimate, while the change of microclimate conditions in turn affect the physiological state of trees. In this paper, CFD simulations are performed by coupling canopy energy balance (CEB) model to study the effects of trees on outdoor microclimate. The results show that the tree has different effects on outdoor microclimate under different wind speeds, air conditions, solar radiation and stomatal resistance. Increasing the wind speed will weaken the cooling effect of the tree. This weakening effect can extend to a distance of about 3.2 times of the tree canopy width behind the tree when the inflow air temperature is 30 °C. However, the influence range at high wind speeds is greater than that at low wind speeds. Air temperature and relative humidity have opposite effects on the sensible and latent heat fluxes of the tree, while they both have negligible effects on the net radiation flux. The humidification effect of the tree will be weakened as the relative humidity increases. Solar radiation has a greater effect on leaf surface temperature (LST) than on air temperature. The net radiation flux is high at the top and bottom of the tree and comparatively low at the central section, which is related to the vertical distribution of leaf area density (LAD). Trees can mitigate the effects of environmental changes on the LST by regulating stomatal resistance, and the reduction of stomatal resistance leads to a greater cooling effect. • CFD study trees effect on urban microclimate under different influencing factors. • Trees have different effects on urban microclimate in different environments. • Increasing wind speed weakens cooling effect of trees under the same conditions. • Air parameters have little effect on the net radiation flux absorbed by trees. • The distribution of net radiation flux is highly correlated with leaf area density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modifying urban morphology, defined as mass, density, and orientation of building stock in cities, are well-known heat mitigation strategies addressing urban heat islands (UHI) at various scales and consequent thermal discomfort. However, varying morphological aspects may have divergent effects on Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC) in cities. Unlike UHI, which is derived from urban-rural temperature differences, OTC can be quantified by thermal comfort indices considering the objective assessment of microclimatic variables including air temperature (T a), relative humidity (RH), mean radiant temperature (T MRT), and wind speed (V a), as well as a subjective assessment of individual perception. In Singapore and other tropical cities, thermally uncomfortable conditions prevail year-round due to higher T a and RH coupled with high solar irradiance from its equatorial location. To better understand the relationship between density related morphological variables, microclimate conditions and OTC in Singapore, we first conduct a systematic literature review to identify existing research gaps and uncertainties. We subsequently analyse prominent building bylaws and urban planning codes of Singapore to understand the potential comfort implications of existing urban morphological norms. Finally, we propose a methodological framework on how to address the gaps and uncertainties in mainstream urban design and urban planning process keeping into consideration microclimatic, comfort and socio-economic variables. • Systematic literature review to assess link between urban morphology and microclimate • Analyzing building guidelines of Singapore to assess its climate potentials • Proposing frameworks for future research directions in tropical cities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to describe the experimentation on environmental high performance urban paving for open space re- design in Urban Barriera program framework in Turin (Italy). Urban Barriera is a program designed to trigger a process of improvement of the “Barriera di Milano” area, the historical neighborhood in the northern part of the city. It was supported by the City of Turin, the Piedmont Region and the European Community, in order to operate on physical, economic, social aspects of the city by encouraging collaboration and proactive interaction between all actors and beneficiaries of urban redevelopment. Particular attention is given to the issue of re-design of urban open spaces, as an instrument for regeneration of the district also from the social point of view. The phase of competitive tender was preceded by a research on environmental high performance paving characterized by good properties related to solar absorption/reflection and permeability, selecting one of this materials for the redevelopment of public open space. In this work, the microclimate conditions of three urban areas were compared, with similar characteristics of morphological urban shape of buildings’ surround but different paving materials. The experimentation started with microclimate monitoring to evaluate outdoor thermal comfort; interviews on citizens and the calculation of thermal comfort indexes completed the analysis. Some of the thermal comfort indexes used are intended for outdoors spaces, but others were developed starting from indoor indexes. A first investigation on the correlation between outdoor thermal comfort indexes and subjective thermal perception have been conducted. The results of this paper analyse thermal comfort conditions during summertime with different paving materials and compare thermal comfort indexes with the subjects’ response. Some considerations on procedural aspects of an ordinary competitive tender concluded the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building morphology and urban block configuration are influential urban design elements that control and optimize the outdoor and indoor thermal performance. In hot climate areas, cooling load is the major contribution to the total energy consumption, so it is essential to adopt design tools to enhance the building performance and reduce energy consumption and emissions. Previous studies proved the impact of urban block morphology on indoor energy consumption. However, the performance of buildings in Sinuous Configuration (SC) within the urban block has not been investigated in previous literature. This study aims to find the impact of SC of urban block configuration on outdoor microclimate parameters and indoor energy consumption. The UAE climate hot conditions were adopted to explore the SC of the urban block on outdoor thermal performance and indoor energy consumption using two simulation programs ENVI-MET and IES-VE. The outdoor thermal performance in this study is expressed by; 1) air temperature, 2) wind velocity, and 3) relative humidity at the height of the pedestrian level, 1.4 m from the ground. The results show that the SC where the buildings are arranged alternatively within the urban block, reduced the air temperature by 1.9 °C compared to the base case of grid arrangement. This result was reflected positively on energy consumption by reducing the conduction and solar gains, consequently, the cooling load decreased by 4.9% compared to the base case. Furthermore, the SC has a clear impact on wind speed and behavior, as wind speed reduced up to 68%, but the airflow and distribution enhanced within the urban block canyons and alleys around the buildings. This study contributes to urban planning policies and regulations by providing an optimized urban block configuration for hot climate areas. However, the impact of SC on outdoor thermal comfort in hot and humid areas can be recommended for further studies. • Studied the impact of sinuous configuration of urban block configuration on outdoor microclimate parameters and indoor energy consumption. • The sinuous configuration where the buildings arranged alternatively within the urban block, reduced the air temperature by 1.9°C. • Reducing the conduction and solar gains, consequently, the cooling load decreased by 4.9%. • The sinuous configuration has a clear impact on wind speed and behavior; wind speed reduced up to 68%. • It contributes to urban planning policies and regulations with an optimized urban block configuration for hot climate areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature and humidity are essential factors in analyzing a building's thermal performance. This research presents the differences in field measurements of vernacular houses in coastal and mountain areas in Indonesia. Field measurements were taken for five consecutive days in four vernacular houses. The variables were measured at the beginning and at the peak of the rainy season. Analysis included a combination of graphic and descriptive methods. The research results show that the location difference between coast and mountain results in a relatively high difference in temperature (43.6%). The outdoor temperature in the mountain area is lower than that of the coastal area. The outdoor humidity of the mountain area is 0.69% higher than that of the coastal area. In the tropical coastal area, the outdoor temperature of the exposed-brick house is 0.94% lower than that of the coastal wooden house. The outdoor air humidity of the brick house is 0.89% higher than that of the coastal wooden house. In the tropical mountain area, the outdoor temperature of the exposed-stone house is 2.47% lower than that of the wooden house. The outdoor air humidity of the stone house is 0.4% lower than that of the wooden house. The outdoor conditions affect the indoor conditions of the respective houses. These microclimatic differences are influenced by micro-environmental factors, such as the density of surrounding buildings, amount of vegetation, and shading. The research shows that height difference is the most dominant factor influencing outdoor microclimate. Regional microclimate becomes the basis for determining the most suitable envelope materials in different areas. The innovative contribution of the work is, among other benefits, the identification of factors that influence the wellbeing of the buildings' users in the researched geographical area and the analysis of the interaction of the external and internal environment of buildings. From the above facts, it follows that the results of this work can contribute to the development of prediction models to determine the type of cover, material, shape, and load-bearing elements needed to create comfortable and energy-efficient buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase of the urban warming phenomenon all over the world is gaining increasing attention from scientists as well as planners and policymakers due to its adverse effects on energy consumption, health, wellbeing, and air pollution. The protection of urban areas from the outdoor warming phenomenon is one of the challenges that policy and governments have to tackle as soon as possible and in the best possible way. Among the urban heat island mitigation techniques, cool materials and urban greening are identified as the most effective solutions in reducing the urban warming phenomenon. The effects produced by the adoption of cool materials and urban forestation on the urban microclimate were investigated through a computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) model. The CFD model was calibrated and validated thanks to experimental surveys within the Catania University campus area. The urban microclimate thermal comfort analysis and assessment were carried out with the Klima–Michel Model (KMM) and Munich Energy Balance Model for Individuals (MEMI). In particular, three scenarios were performed: cool, low, and high levels of urban greening. The cool scenario, although it produces air temperature at around 1.00 °C, determines the worst condition of outdoor thermal comfort, especially at the pedestrian level. On the contrary, a high level of urban greening, obtained by the extensive green roofs together with an urban forestation, guarantees the wellbeing of pedestrians, showing more convenient values of PMV and PET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) and nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly recognized as strategies to address urban sustainability challenges. These solutions are attracting key scientific and marketing attention thanks to their capability to improve indoor and outdoor thermal comfort and environmental quality of spaces. In urban areas, where most of the population worldwide lives, indoor-outdoor environmental quality is compromised by local and temporary overheating phenomena, air pollution concentration, and impervious surfaces minimizing urban space resilience to climate change related hazards. In this view, the proposed study concerns the analysis of a greenery system for enhancing outdoor thermal conditions and local warming mitigation for pedestrians for the continental Mediterranean climate. The system has the purpose of designing an outdoor "alive" shading system to be applied in open public spaces, with producing physical and societal benefits. The experimental results showed that the implementation of the greenery, characterized by lower surface temperatures and evapotranspiration compared to a simple pergola system, allows the reduction of outdoor air temperature under the shading system and, thus, higher relative humidity in summer. Specifically, the hygrothermal cooling and the additional shading thanks to the presence of greenery provide local air temperature reduction up to 5 °C at pedestrian level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A method for calibrating outdoor microclimate models by thermal infrared pictures • Drones are used for detailed reconstruction of urban geometry and image shooting • The method has been demonstrated in a 400 × 400 m2 wide area in Italy • AVG and STDV difference between thermography and simulations is of only 1.53 °C and 2.22 °C Outdoor microclimate modelling is getting popular for estimating comfort conditions in urban environments. Current calibration approaches usually rely on measurements of air temperature for a limited number of points in the study domain, in spite of the fact that it is the Mean Radiant Temperature (Tmrt) the parameter mostly affecting comfort. However, the direct measurement of Tmrt outdoors via the globe thermometer or using the six direction radiation method is prone to errors. To overcome these issues, the present paper proposes a novel method to indirectly improve its estimate based on the use of infrared thermal pictures gathered by drone flights to measure surface temperatures, and then use these values for calibrating numerical models. This novel approach has been demonstrated for a 400 × 400 m2 wide area in the city of Medicina (Italy) and showed a good agreement with ENVI-met simulations, with average and standard deviation values difference between measured and simulated surface temperatures of 1.53 °C and 2.22 °C respectively. The highest differences (up to 19 °C) are found for areas densely covered by vegetation. Further studies are planned to evaluate the goodness of the calibration pixel wise and to propose calibration thresholds based on Tmrt sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regenerative approach to design goes beyond limiting the environmental impact of the built environment and towards the enrichment of the ecosystem, adaptation to climate change, and the improvement of human health. This concept is being applied to buildings through new standards such as the Living Building Challenge, yet examples of implementation of regenerative design at the urban scale are rare. While this is a promising direction for sustainable design, in theory new metrics, design tools and workflows need to be developed to translate regenerative design concepts into practice effectively. Among other factors, barriers to implementation remain rooted in the shortcomings of existing urban simulation tools to evaluate a wide range of performance metrics simultaneously. This paper thus proposes a prototype workflow to evaluate regenerative performance using existing evaluation tools in a single digital workflow. A series of existing and customised plugins, most of which are already in use and open source, were integrated into a multi-parametric workflow based on the Grasshopper visual programming tool. The workflow was tested on Malaga as a case study and incorporated key performance indicators related to outdoor human thermal comfort, biophilia, daylight performance, and energy use and production, based on data exchange and synergies across the different tools. These indicators were evaluated for present and future climate scenarios obtained from a weather generator. This paper demonstrates the potential of this workflow to receive visual feedback on various aspects of regenerative urban design, thus enabling designers to more effectively pursue an evidence-based urban design process. • Key Performance Indicators for Regenerative Design defined for an urban context. • Multi-layered parametric workflow based on data exchange defined in Grasshopper. • Importance of connecting algorithms to evaluate performance highlighted. • Modelling of future climates, urban energy, and environmental quality discussed. • Findings may improve adoption of evidence-based urban design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]