Quantify Impacts of Local Urban Microclimate on Local Airflow Patterns

Abstract

This study aims to quantify the impacts of the local urban microclimate on the local airflow patterns, including air temperature and Convective Heat Transfer Coefficients (CHTCs). Consideration of the microclimate require taking into account influence of the local outdoor air temperature, velocity, and solar irradiance. Accurate representation of these variables plays an important role in the assessment of building energy consumption patterns in urban areas. This study uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with implementing the local solar irradiances on the building surfaces to calculate local airflow patterns. The performed simulations indicate accounting for the local urban microclimate allows potential implementation of urban scale CHTCs in the building energy simulation models. Accurate estimation of local microclimate provides crucial inputs for the building energy models.