Climate Adaptation in Urban Regeneration: A Cross-Scale Digital Design Workflow

Urban vulnerability has many facets. Among these, urban texture and plot pattern, building massing and density, greatly affect the microclimate. Thence, redefining urban regeneration design criteria for climate neutrality is crucial, including environmental factors in the design process at different scales. In the light of climate change,...

Cool Tree Architecture: A Descriptive Framework for a Tree Architecture Typology to Temper Urban Microclimates

As the elementary unit of the urban forest, trees temper thermal extremes in urban microclimates through shading and evapotranspiration, and by altering the movement of air. Metrics on shade performances of different species, however, are currently limited, which can be remedied by the development of a method to describe the range of species and...

Soft space - space for permeability and interaction: Creating great quality public space in the Oude Westen, Rotterdam with conditions for inviting and encouraging use & natural processes

With a pressure on public space due to a predicted increase of users, the changing climate and a non-supporting existing urban structure with a focus on space for vehicles, there is need for improvement of public space in the neighbourhood Oude Westen in Rotterdam. The research question guiding this design research is:</p><p...

Exploring the Effects of Void Decks on Urban Ventilation in Singapore: A Computational Design & Simulation Approach for Wind Microclimate-Informed Urban Planning

Rising temperatures due to climate change and the increased Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect both have a major impact on Singapore’s outdoor comfort. Research has reported an average UHI in Singapore of 4°C, which can even exceed 7°C at some times of the day. (Acero &amp; Ruefenacht, 2017) Increasing convective surface heat transfer from the human...

Climability 2100: Towards a livable urban microclimate

With a growing world population and changing climate conditions, cities have many problems to face in the future. The changing climate can affect the way we appropriate urban outdoor spaces which will affect the social sustainability in the city, so adaptation strategies in cities are necessary. Urban designers should create conditions to...

An Integrated Microclimate-Energy Demand Simulation Method for the Assessment of Urban Districts

Rapid urbanization and densification processes are changing microclimatic environments in cities around the world. Even though previous studies have demonstrated the impact of urban microclimate on space cooling and heating demand, modeling tools employed to support the design process largely overlook microclimatic conditions in assessing...

Vertical Forests: The Impact of Green Balconies on the Microclimate by Solar Shading, Evapotranspiration and Wind Flow Change

In the future most of us will be living in cities and due to climate change global average temperatures are expected to rise. As a result of the urban heat island effect, the temperature in cities can be up to 7 C higher than in the surrounding rural area. Higher air temperatures are not only uncomfortable, but also unhealthy especially for...

Microclimatic performance of urban form: an analytic method in energy-sensitive urban design

Designing the Urban Microclimate: A framework for a design-decision tool for the dissemination of knowledge on the urban microclimate to the urban design process

The urban microclimate has a significant impact on people’s physical health. Effects range from discomfort, for example sleep disturbance, to life- threatening conditions, such as heat stroke, skin and lung cancer. It is therefore vital that the urban microclimate is given considerable attention in the urban design process. The PhD research...