Urban Materials for Thermally Liveable Cities: The Use of New Materials and the Relations with the Urban Climate to Better Achieve a Sustainable Building Environment

Dear Colleagues,

Eurostat data show SDG 13 “Climate Action” as one of the areas in need of more and faster progress due to the need to reduce energy consumption, and SDG11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities” demands better living standards for citizens. With these ideas in mind, one of the Mission Areas in Horizon Europe is devoted to Climate-neutral and Smart Cities, which has already proposed the Mission “100 Climate-neutral Cities by 2030–by and for the Citizens”. This scenario can be addressed by paying attention to urban materials and their great impact on the quality of the outdoor environment, the energy demand and the well-being of citizens.

From the thermal point of view, the use of materials with an adequate response to solar radiation is of prime importance. This response is defined by the thermo-optical properties of surface materials, which depend on their composition, finish or texture and shape. Several approaches may be found in the literature for the optimization of the thermo-optical properties of urban materials to achieve more sustainable cities. An important number of studies are intended to provide a reduction in cooling needs associated with the increase in temperature in cities, the so-called Urban Heat Island (UHI). Several recent works in the literature have also pointed out non negligible interactions between the outer envelope of buildings and the thermal field perceived outdoors by pedestrians. In general, the published studies show that the implementation of multi-functional and innovative materials in urban surfaces can provide step-change improvements in the quality of the urban environment, the energy demand and the well-being of citizens.

Another topic of interest is that in the energy simulation of buildings there has been little focus on the influence of the building envelope on the exterior and interior environment; simulation tools have usually dealt either with buildings or with outdoor simulation separately, and only recently these aspects are being interconnected.

Knowing the climatic conditions inside the city allows us to build policies to create more climate-resilient cities. Most studies about microclimate conditions are based on datasets extracted by fixed weather stations, but these measurements cannot reproduce the environmental parameter variation at pedestrian level and are focused on the prediction of Urban Microclimatic (UMC) factors, while very few are targeted towards the implementation outlook. It is important to combine resources in comfort studies by on-site surveys and measurements since environmental measurements may differ from the users’ perceptions.

This Special Issue (SI) aims to draw attention to the inter-relationships between urban material, built environment, urban microclimate, building energy demand and people’s health and wellbeing.

The Scientific Board for this Special Issue invites high achievers, professors, researchers and scholars to contribute their original works in the form of applied research and case studies (national/international RD&I projects; real solutions at national level) as well as theoretical, experimental and numerical studies. The contributions will be related to (but not limited to) urban materials on the following possible topics:

• Urban surface use;
• Cool materials;
• Smart materials for urban surfaces;
• Thermo-optical characterization of urban materials;
• Urban and building adaptation strategies to climate change;
• Urban heat island studies and mitigation strategies (mesoscale and local scale);
• Urban microclimate;
• Building energy performance in the urban context;
• Tools and approaches for urban energy modeling (UBEM);
• Environmental quality in urban areas (indoor and outdoor);
• Innovative materials for sustainable buildings, cities and comunities;
• Green and Blue solutions;
• Renewable energy systems;
• Microclimate monitoring;
• Citizens’ perception of the urban microclimate;
• Monitoring of the implementation of innovative materials for urban solutions

Dr. Emanuela Giancola
Dr. Gloria Pérez Álvarez-Quiñones
Dr. Beatriz Arranz
Guest Editors

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• parametric design
• environmental simulation tools
• outdoor microclimate
• mean radiant temperature
• outdoor comfort
• building energy performance
• urban heat island
• climate change