Abstract
Reasonable design of the overburden thickness of underground space (OTUS) can influence the outdoor thermal environment by affecting the ground plant communities. To optimize the design of the OTUS for improving the outdoor thermal environment, this study summarized the influence mechanism of the OTUS on the outdoor thermal environment and proposed a framework of the optimization design of underground space overburden thickness. A typical row layout residential area in Nanjing, China, was taken as the research object on which to perform a numerical study of the influence of plant communities formed by two types of plant collocations (a middle- and low-level plant collocation and a middle- and high-level plant collocation) on the outdoor thermal environment (airflow field, air temperature, relative humidity and thermal comfort) under three different ratios of trees to shrubs (2:3, 1:2, and 1:3), and to provide suggestions regarding the design of the OTUS according to the designer’s requirements. The conclusions were summarized as follows: (1) If a designer wants to enhance outdoor ventilation, the OTUS should be designed to satisfy the requirements for the middle- and low-level plant collocations and the overburden thickness of the 2/5 underground space development area should be set to 80~100 cm, the overburden thickness of the other 2/5 area should be set to 45~60 cm and the overburden thickness of the remaining 1/5 area should be set to 30~45 cm. (2) If a designer wants to reduce air temperature, increase relative humidity, and improve outdoor thermal comfort, the OTUS should be designed to satisfy the requirements for middle- and high-level plant collocations and the overburden thickness of the 1/4 underground space development area should be set to 80~100 cm, and the overburden thickness of the remaining 3/4 area should be set to 45~60 cm.
Highlights
In recent years, the urban thermal environment has been deteriorating due to China’s urbanization, and the urban heat island effect is the most pronounced in summer, especially in residential areas [1,2,3]
It has been reported that the heat waves that swept across Europe in 2003 caused approximately 20,000 deaths in Britain, France, Italy, and Portugal [9,10]
Li Zhang used the ENVI-met model to investigate the effects of tree distribution and species on outdoor environments [13]
Summary
The urban thermal environment has been deteriorating due to China’s urbanization, and the urban heat island effect is the most pronounced in summer, especially in residential areas [1,2,3]. It has been reported that the heat waves that swept across Europe in 2003 caused approximately 20,000 deaths in Britain, France, Italy, and Portugal [9,10] To address these problems, various easing measures have been proposed [2], and landscape greening is accepted as the most effective way to ease the heat island effect [2,11], which can provide shade and contribute to reducing the surface temperature of buildings and the ground [1,4]. These studies had a positive effect on easing the urban heat island effect, which neglected the influence of underground space development on ground greening and the outdoor thermal environment
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