Abstract
The pedestrian wind environment in a street canyon is affected by a multitude of factors, including the height and geometric shape of the surrounding buildings, the street width, the wind direction, and speed. Wind-tunnel tests were performed to determine the effects of constructing high buildings in an urban renewal project in New Taipei City, Taiwan on the pedestrian wind environments in the surrounding street canyons. The results show that replacing the original low-rise buildings with high-rise buildings could decrease the wind speed and natural ventilation potential in certain surrounding street canyons. The flow fields generated by approaching winds in various street canyons are highly complex in this practical case study. Thus, the pedestrian wind patterns in the street canyons cannot be interpreted in terms of channeling and shielding effects alone, as is typically reported in the literature.
Highlights
The effect of a high-rise building on the surrounding microclimate is an important design consideration in addition to safety and aesthetics
Performed wind-tunnel tests to investigate the effects of several parameters on pedestrian-level wind fields surrounding single rectangular-plan high-rise buildings
The objective of the present study is to provide insights into the impact of demolishing original low-rise buildings and constructing high-rise buildings on the pedestrian wind environments in the surrounding street canyons for which little information is available
Summary
The effect of a high-rise building on the surrounding microclimate is an important design consideration in addition to safety and aesthetics. Pedestrian wind environments have been actively studied since the 1960s These studies on the effects of buildings on the surrounding pedestrian-level wind fields can generally be categorized into those on a single high-rise building [1,2,3,4,5] and those on building clusters. Performed wind-tunnel tests to investigate the effects of several parameters (i.e., the building height H, the building width B, the aspect ratio H/B, and the approaching flow profile) on pedestrian-level wind fields surrounding single rectangular-plan high-rise buildings. The downwash airflow generated by the buildings within the boundary layer flow significantly affected the surrounding pedestrian-level wind field. Both the area and wind intensity of strong-wind regions increased with H, albeit at lower rates beyond a defined H value. At a fixed H, decreasing the aspect ratio (i.e., by increasing the width of the windward side of the building) weakened the downwash and Venturi effects
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
