An urban-scale method for building roofs available wind resource evaluation based on aerodynamic parameters of urban sublayer surfaces

Abstract

• A convenient urban-scale wind resource assessment method was proposed. • A moving grid was proposed to calculate the aerodynamic parameters. • The potential of low-rise buildings in urban areas using wind energy was revealed. • A criterion to assess the wind energy above urban building roofs was developed. For the limited areas of building rooftops, installing wind turbines can increase energy production, as compared to paving over the photovoltaic panels, and can serve as a viable means for complementary power generation. However, a concise criterion for estimating the availability of wind energy in the built environment is lacking. In this work, the aerodynamic parameters method was integrated with a moving grid of a semicircle with a radius of 500 m to develop an urban-scale wind energy evaluation model. The wind energy utilisation potential of buildings’ rooftops in a given city (in this case, Hangzhou) was estimated. The results show that a certain portion of low-rise buildings has considerable available wind resources. By statistical analysis of the millions of calculated results, two criteria for rooftop's wind resources assessment have been developed. Compared with the buildings in a previously planned region having small spacing and low average height characteristics, the buildings of the newly planned region were spacious, resulting in its suitability for wind energy utilisation proportion being 10.2% higher. Besides, the proportion of residential buildings that are suitable for wind use is higher than that of public buildings and industrial buildings, for the average height difference.