Abstract
In the context of the impact of urbanization on climate change, this work aims to evaluate the sensitivity of the thermal and radiative properties of building surfaces in urban areas to the urban heat island intensity, a local scale meteorological phenomenon. For this, variations of albedo values, emissivity, thermal conductivity and heat capacity of roofs, streets and walls were simulated through an urban scheme coupled with the BRAMS mesoscale atmospheric model for the metropolitan area of São Paulo, considering two main urban types. The simulations show that, in general, looking for cold surface situations, the change of building material can contribute to a reduction of up to 3 °C for São Paulo. In addition, the role of orientation and the typological characteristics of constructions should be taken into account. In this sense, it is expected that this work guides civil engineers and builders to search for new materials in order to reduce the effects of urbanization on the local climate.
Highlights
In recent years, the process of urbanization can be considered as one of the most impressive phenomena in the history of our planet
The results show that most of the night in both days, the Urban Heat Island (UHI) intensity has fewer values with higher emissivity
The solar radiation can be considered the main component in the energy budget, and the capacity of building material to reflect it in the roof contributes to a decrease in the temperature and the UHI intensity
Summary
The process of urbanization can be considered as one of the most impressive phenomena in the history of our planet. In 1950, only 29.1% of the world’s population lived in urban areas. In 2018, this number increased to 55%, with the highest rate of increase being in less developed regions [1]. The number of cities with more than 10 million inhabitants (megacities) and their population are increasing. In 1950, there were only two megacities (New York and Tokyo). There are currently 19 worldwide, 13 of them in emerging countries [1]
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