Effects of building–roof cooling on the flow and dispersion of reactive pollutants in an idealized urban street canyon

Abstract

This study investigated the characteristics of the flow and dispersion of reactive pollutants in three-dimensional idealized street canyons in the presence of building-roof cooling to provide implications in how a green-roof system contributes to mitigating of pedestrian exposure to near-roadway air pollution in street canyons. The pollutant chemistry was simulated using a coupled CFD-chemistry model. In the presence of building-roof cooling, winds and temperature fields inside the building canopy of the street canyon were significantly modified. Building-roof cooling, intensified the street-canyon vortex strength (up to 26.6% in downdraft, 10.4% reverse flow, and 7.7% in updraft). Building-roof cooling also decreased air temperature in the street canyon by supplying cooler air near the building roof. The changes in the in-canopy distributions of primary pollutants (NOX, VOCs and CO) due to building-roof cooling were mainly caused by the modified mean flow rather than the chemical reactions. High concentrations of primary pollutants occurred near the upwind building because the reverse flows were dominant at street level, making this area the downwind region of emission sources. Ozone concentrations were lower than the background concentration near the ground, where NOX concentrations were high. Building-roof cooling decreased primary pollutant concentrations by approximately −2.4% compared to those under non-cooling conditions. By contrast, building-roof cooling increased O3 concentrations by about 1.1% by reducing NO concentrations in the street canyon compared to concentrations under non-cooling conditions.