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Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as...
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Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Biometeorology and Bioclimatology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 20994

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lei Yuan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China
Interests: green buildings; urban physical environment; urban building energy modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Lei Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai 519082, China
Interests: atmospheric boundary layer physics; air pollution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is projected that the world population will reach 9.5 billion people and that more than two-thirds of them will live in urban areas by 2050. Rapid urban expansion and anthropogenic activities are dramatically impacting the urban microclimate in multiple and various ways.

The urban microclimate mainly depends on local features, such as land use patterns, topography, local circulation, landscape and architectural morphology. Ongoing urbanization leads to the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which deteriorates the quality of life in urban areas and contributes to global warming.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 99% of the world’s population lives in places where the air quality does not meet the levels set out by the WHO Guidelines as of 2019. Higher air pollution levels result in a higher risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic and respiratory diseases. The built environment and microclimate relate to urban ventilation and the ability to disperse pollutants.

It is important to establish solutions to address the urban microclimate according to local conditions. In this context, this Special Issue aims to deal with different aspects involving the urban microclimate, including investigating the origin and evolution of the urban microclimate, comprehensive and interdisciplinary studies focusing on the mitigation of and adaptation to the UHI phenomenon, solutions to air pollution, green building design, as well as the improvement of indoor and outdoor thermal comfort and livability.

We are interested in a broad range of urban microclimate studies from various parts of the world. We also welcome papers presenting innovative methods and interdisciplinary research. This Special Issue is designed to provide insights into recent research in experimental, numerical modelling, integrated planning and design approaches. We hope that this Special Issue will enrich ongoing studies on urban livability and science-driven urban design practices.

Prof. Dr. Lei Yuan
Prof. Dr. Lei Li
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • the influence mechanism of urban microclimate
  • UHI mitigation and adaptation
  • urban microclimate simulation and prediction
  • indoor and outdoor thermal comfort
  • green building design
  • building performance
  • environmental exposure
  • health exposure to air pollutants
  • health risk assessment

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3475 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Outdoor Thermal Comfort in a Hot Summer Region of Europe
by José Luis Sánchez Jiménez and Manuel Ruiz de Adana
Atmosphere 2024, 15(2), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15020214 - 9 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2744
Abstract
Heat waves are increasingly frequent in Europe, especially in South European countries during the summer season. The intensity and frequency of these heat waves have increased significantly in recent years. Spain, as one of the southern European countries most affected by these recurring [...] Read more.
Heat waves are increasingly frequent in Europe, especially in South European countries during the summer season. The intensity and frequency of these heat waves have increased significantly in recent years. Spain, as one of the southern European countries most affected by these recurring heat waves, particularly experiences this phenomenon in touristic cities such as Cordoba. The aim of this study was to perform an experimental assessment of outdoor thermal comfort in a typical three-hour tourist walkable path of the historical center of Cordoba. The experimental study was carried out in the three-hour period of higher temperatures from 16:30 to 19:30 h CEST (UTC+2) on a normal summer day (6 July 2023), a day with a heat wave (28 June 2023) and a day with a higher heat intensity, called a super heat wave (10 August 2023). Environmental conditions such as a radiant temperature, ambient temperature, wet bulb temperature, air velocity and relative humidity were measured at three different heights corresponding to 0.1 (ankles), 0.7 (abdomen) and 1.7 (head) m. The results show extremely high levels of heat stress in all bioclimatic indices throughout the route. Cumulative heat stress ranged from “very hot” conditions at the beginning of the route to becoming “highly sweltering” at the end of the route. The average temperature excess over the thermal comfort threshold was very high and increased with the heat intensity. In addition, a correlation analysis was carried out between the bioclimatic indices studied, with the UTCI index standing out for its strong correlation with other thermal comfort indices. The findings emphasize the need for interventions to improve the urban environment and promote better outdoor thermal comfort for city dwellers through measures such as green infrastructure, UHI mitigation and increasing public awareness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design)
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17 pages, 13398 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Trees on the UHI Effect and Urban Environment Quality: A Case Study of a District in Pisa, Italy
by Greta Frosini, Agnese Amato, Francesca Mugnai and Fabrizio Cinelli
Atmosphere 2024, 15(1), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15010123 - 19 Jan 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1998
Abstract
As the urban heat island effect has become a worldwide phenomenon commonly affecting densely built-up areas, public administrations need efficient strategies to mitigate its impact on human well-being and public health. The aim of this study was to define a replicable method to [...] Read more.
As the urban heat island effect has become a worldwide phenomenon commonly affecting densely built-up areas, public administrations need efficient strategies to mitigate its impact on human well-being and public health. The aim of this study was to define a replicable method to estimate the ecosystem services provided by public street trees as a supporting tool in the decision-making process of urban greenery management. We compared three street arrangements characteristic of a residential district in Pisa, Italy: (1) with large trees, (2) with small trees, and (3) without trees. First, the software i-Tree Eco was used to assess the benefits of public trees located in the case-study area when provided with the three scenarios. Second, the comparison was held on the field, and we collected data with a wet bulb globe temperature meter in order to evaluate the differences in pedestrian thermal comfort among the street arrangements. The results confirmed the importance of urban vegetation, as it has major impacts on carbon sequestration and storage, pollution removal, air humidity and quality, and shade, given bigger trees and canopy sizes. The loss of ecosystem services compared to the presence of large trees varied between 40% and 50% (no trees) and 30% and 40% (small trees). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design)
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20 pages, 8251 KiB  
Article
A Convolutional Neural Network for Steady-State Flow Approximation Trained on a Small Sample Size
by Guodong Zhong, Xuesong Xu, Jintao Feng and Lei Yuan
Atmosphere 2023, 14(9), 1462; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14091462 - 20 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1530
Abstract
The wind microclimate plays an important role in architectural design, and computational fluid dynamics is a method commonly used for analyzing the issue. However, due to its high technical difficulty and time-consuming nature, it limits the interaction and exploration between designers and environment [...] Read more.
The wind microclimate plays an important role in architectural design, and computational fluid dynamics is a method commonly used for analyzing the issue. However, due to its high technical difficulty and time-consuming nature, it limits the interaction and exploration between designers and environment performance analyses. To address the issue, scholars have proposed a series of approximation models based on machine learning that have partially improved computational efficiency. However, these methods face challenges in terms of balancing applicability, prediction accuracy, and sample size. In this paper, we propose a method based on the classic Vggnet deep convolutional neural network as the backbone to construct an approximate model for predicting steady-state flow fields in urban areas. The method is trained on a small amount of sample data and can be extended to calculate the wind environment performance. Furthermore, we investigated the differences between geometric representation methods, such as the Boolean network representation and signed distance function, as well as different structure models, such as Vgg-CFD-11, Vgg-CFD-13, Vgg-CFD-16, and Vgg-CFD-19. The results indicate that the model can be trained using a small amount of sample data, and all models generally possess the ability to predict the wind environment. The best performance on the validation set and test set was achieved with an RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) of 0.7966 m/s and 2.2345 m/s, respectively, and an R-Squared score of 0.9776 and 0.8455. Finally, we embedded the best-performing model into an architect-friendly urban comprehensive analysis platform, URBAN NEURAL-CFD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design)
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26 pages, 23523 KiB  
Article
Study on the Layout of Public Space in Multistory Settlements Based on Outdoor Thermal Environment in Hot-Summer and Cold-Winter Regions of China
by Qian Ma, Lei Shi, Jiaqi Shi, Simian Liu, Mengjia Chen and Fupeng Zhang
Atmosphere 2023, 14(7), 1070; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14071070 - 25 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1577
Abstract
Residential public spaces are closely intertwined with residents’ lives as the outdoor thermal environment significantly influences the comfort and safety of outdoor activities. However, in modern designs, factors such as forms, aesthetics and functionalities often take precedence, resulting in the neglect of the [...] Read more.
Residential public spaces are closely intertwined with residents’ lives as the outdoor thermal environment significantly influences the comfort and safety of outdoor activities. However, in modern designs, factors such as forms, aesthetics and functionalities often take precedence, resulting in the neglect of the microclimate of the settlement’s public spaces. In this paper, we established a workflow of “parametric simulation-performance simulation-genetic optimization”. By employing the octopus genetic algorithm tool, we conducted experiments on a typical model and set objectives to optimize the winter sunshine duration as well as the thermal comfort during the summer and winter. The results indicated that the average value of the UTCI was optimized for both the summer and winter. This study concludes that altering the layout of public spaces is beneficial for the outdoor microclimate. Additionally, the presence of evenly distributed open node spaces throughout the settlement can improve ventilation in all areas while also protecting it against the winter cold and the dissipation of summer heat. Moreover, it is advisable to position larger public spaces, such as plazas, in the south or southeast. The number of public spaces should gradually decrease in size from the southeast to northwest as this prevents excessive cold winds from traversing in the settlement during the winter. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design)
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19 pages, 22393 KiB  
Article
Research on the Influence Mechanism of Outdoor Wind Environment on Indoor Smoke Exhaust Efficiency in the Super-High-Rise Tower Crown Based on Airpak Simulation
by Tongtong Zhang, Xiaojun Zhou, Zhongsheng Zhang and Fei Qu
Atmosphere 2023, 14(6), 1048; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14061048 - 19 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1534
Abstract
The high wind pressure and velocity of the outdoor environment make super-high-rise tower crown space distinct from general tall through space. This segregation causes the crown space to be particularly prone to smoke short-circuiting influenced by the outside wind environment if a fire [...] Read more.
The high wind pressure and velocity of the outdoor environment make super-high-rise tower crown space distinct from general tall through space. This segregation causes the crown space to be particularly prone to smoke short-circuiting influenced by the outside wind environment if a fire occurs indoors, and causes deficient smoke exhaust efficiency in a fire. The goal of this study was to investigate the general principle regarding the effect of the outdoor wind environment on smoke exhaust efficiency of such spaces under the crown space. We measured external wind direction and wind pressure in the smoke exhaust in the tower crown and developed setting plans for the exhaust outlets and make-up air inlet. Airpak was used to create the external wind environment and compare simulations to see if smoke short-circuiting occurred. We analyzed the causes, summarized solutions that did not result in short-circuiting of smoke flow, and made adjustments. We provide an ideal plan for the setting direction and vent velocity of the make-up air inlet and exhaust outlet in the crown spaces of super-tall towers to improve the design of smoke exhaust systems in such spaces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design)
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13 pages, 5389 KiB  
Article
Air Temperature Variations Due to Different Roofs and Their Impact on Energy Consumption and Emissions: Mexicali University Campus Case Study
by Néstor Santillán-Soto, Alejandro A. Lambert-Arista, David E. Flores-Jiménez, Sara Ojeda-Benítez, Samantha E. Cruz-Sotelo, Nicolás Velázquez-Limón and Ricardo López-Zavala
Atmosphere 2023, 14(6), 945; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14060945 - 28 May 2023
Viewed by 1512
Abstract
Roof surfaces on which air conditioning equipment is installed cause significant air temperature increases around the condensers due to roof thermal properties, resulting in excess electrical energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An experiment to quantify such excesses during the summer was [...] Read more.
Roof surfaces on which air conditioning equipment is installed cause significant air temperature increases around the condensers due to roof thermal properties, resulting in excess electrical energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An experiment to quantify such excesses during the summer was conducted at a university campus in Mexicali, Mexico. The air temperatures and surface temperatures for three types of roofs were recorded. Temperatures (condenser inlet air temperatures) were used as the input data to a priori estimate the electrical consumption of a 5-ton A/C equipment working over these different roofs. Temperatures recorded by a nearby meteorological station were used as a reference. The results indicate a differential of up to 4.81 °C, resulting in an excess of electricity consumption of 5.55 kWh and an additional 3.9 kg of CO2 emissions, representing an 8.2% energy surplus and differences of up to 2.1% in electricity consumption provoked by microclimate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design)
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17 pages, 2890 KiB  
Article
PM2.5 Concentration Prediction in Six Major Chinese Urban Agglomerations: A Comparative Study of Various Machine Learning Methods Based on Meteorological Data
by Min Duan, Yufan Sun, Binzhe Zhang, Chi Chen, Tao Tan and Yihua Zhu
Atmosphere 2023, 14(5), 903; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14050903 - 22 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2427
Abstract
The escalating issue of air pollution in China’s rapidly developing urban areas has prompted increased attention to the role of meteorological conditions in PM2.5 pollution. This study examines the spatiotemporal distribution of PM2.5 concentrations and their relationship with meteorological factors in [...] Read more.
The escalating issue of air pollution in China’s rapidly developing urban areas has prompted increased attention to the role of meteorological conditions in PM2.5 pollution. This study examines the spatiotemporal distribution of PM2.5 concentrations and their relationship with meteorological factors in six major Chinese urban agglomerations from 2017 to 2020, using daily average data. Statistical and spatial analysis techniques are employed, alongside the construction of eight machine learning models for prediction purposes. The study also compares the feature importance of various meteorological factors impacting PM2.5 concentrations. Results reveal significant regional differences in both average PM2.5 levels and meteorological influences. The Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) model demonstrates the highest prediction accuracy for PM2.5 concentrations. According to the MLP model’s feature importance identification, temperature is the most significant factor affecting PM2.5 concentrations across all urban agglomerations, while wind speed and precipitation have the least impact. Contributions from air pressure and dew point temperature, however, vary among different urban agglomerations. This research considers the impact of urban agglomerations and meteorological conditions on PM2.5 and also offers valuable artificial intelligence-based insights into the key meteorological factors influencing PM2.5 concentrations in diverse regions, thereby informing the development of effective air pollution control policies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design)
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15 pages, 2717 KiB  
Article
Traits of Adaptive Outdoor Thermal Comfort in a Tropical Urban Microclimate
by Chng Saun Fong, Suneja Manavvi, Radhakrishnan Shanthi Priya, Logaraj Ramakreshnan, Nik Meriam Sulaiman and Nasrin Aghamohammadi
Atmosphere 2023, 14(5), 852; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14050852 - 10 May 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2791
Abstract
Urban heat islands (UHIs) are negatively impacting the quality of the urban environment and outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) levels, which have raised concerns regarding their impact on urban health and well-being. Understanding of OTC level is crucial, particularly in tropical cities with year-round [...] Read more.
Urban heat islands (UHIs) are negatively impacting the quality of the urban environment and outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) levels, which have raised concerns regarding their impact on urban health and well-being. Understanding of OTC level is crucial, particularly in tropical cities with year-round high temperatures and humidity. A study was conducted in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, to determine the OTC level in a selected urban area through microclimate measurements and questionnaire surveys with 1157 respondents. Over half of the urban dwellers reported thermal discomfort, with a high perceived OTC level, indicating strong thermal adaptive behaviours among the urban dwellers despite the physiological stress. Confounding factors such as urban morphology, land cover and human activity patterns also influence the OTC level in the tropical city. The findings emphasize the need for interventions to improve the urban environment and promote better outdoor thermal comfort for city dwellers through measures such as green infrastructure, UHI mitigation and increasing public awareness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design)
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15 pages, 4097 KiB  
Article
Experimental Verification of Mist Cooling Effect in Front of Air-Conditioning Condenser Unit, Open Space, and Bus Stop
by Sae Kyogoku and Hideki Takebayashi
Atmosphere 2023, 14(1), 177; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14010177 - 13 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3573
Abstract
Mist spraying is a technique for locally lowering air temperature by spraying fine mist into the air and using the latent heat of evaporation immediately after spraying. This study focuses on the conditions under which mist spraying contributes to the increase in sensible [...] Read more.
Mist spraying is a technique for locally lowering air temperature by spraying fine mist into the air and using the latent heat of evaporation immediately after spraying. This study focuses on the conditions under which mist spraying contributes to the increase in sensible heat release from the human body, using the ratio of air temperature decrease and humidity increase in the space where mist is sprayed. From the measurement results in front of the air-conditioning condenser unit, humidity increased by about 10 g/kg(DA), while air temperature decreased by about 10 °C. From the measurement results in an open space in a park, air temperature decreased by about 0.5 to 1 °C within 2 m of the mist spray and humidity increased by about 0.5 to 1 g/kg(DA) at the height of the mist spray, regardless of the distance from the mist spray. From the measurement results at semi-open bus stops, air temperature decreased slightly to 1 °C and humidity increased slightly to 1 g/kg(DA) under low-wind conditions. Unfortunately, the measured results of air temperature decrease in relation to humidity increase, which the human body perceives as cooler, were not available. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Microclimate: Thermal Comfort, Air Quality and Green Building as Drivers of Healthy Urban Design)
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