Building Layout Research Articles

Thermal comfort performance prediction method using sports center layout images in several cold cities based on CNN

Sports centers are core spaces for urban sports and fitness, and reasonable layout of large public buildings can alleviate urban climate issues. But the adverse effects of planning and layout and surrounding urban microclimate on the thermal comfort of outdoor activity space are rarely considered. In this study, an EnergyPlus and Openfoam collaborative computing platform was constructed to calculate the universal thermal climate index of the outdoor space of sports center. By comparing the simulation results of sports centers in three severely cold cities, improving the wind environment of the site's microclimate was found to be key in improving thermal comfort, and the hours of overall site thermal comfort increased mainly in spring and autumn. In this paper, a design method combining numerical simulations and a convolutional neural network was proposed, which can effectively predict the thermal comfort performance of affected sites. The application of this prediction method to the design of the Yingkou Sports Center increased the hours of overall site thermal comfort by 15.01% compared with the original scheme. Synthesizing the results and methods of this study can provide an effective reference and analysis tool for the overall environmental performance of urban areas.

Urban Design Impact on Local Climate and its Consequences on Building Energy Demand in Morocco

Urban design has a profound impact on the local climate, which can result in changes in temperature distribution and energy demand. The Urban Heat Island (UHI), a well-documented issue where cities typically experience higher temperatures than the cooler rural surroundings that envelop them, is closely tied to urban design and its geometrical features. This increase in temperature can lead to increased energy consumption, particularly for air conditioning, as populations strive to maintain thermal comfort. Within this framework, this paper seeks to advance our comprehension of the influence of urban design on the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and building energy requirements. It makes a valuable contribution to the expanding body of research in this field, offering insightful guidance on optimal urban design strategies tailored to diverse climate zones in Morocco. To achieve these goals, we explore multiple urban design scenarios incorporating variations in building heights, street aspect ratios, building layout configurations, and street orientations. We employ the Urban Weather Generator and EnergyPlus for our analysis, with the former enabling the generation of synthetic weather data that accounts for the UHI effect in urban contexts, and the latter facilitating building energy simulations. The simulation results reveal a wide-ranging hourly variation in Urban Heat Island (UHI) intensity, spanning from 11°C to -5°C across the cities under study. Among these cities, Ifrane, Marrakesh, and Fes exhibit the highest average annual UHI intensity. Incorporating UHI considerations into energy simulations has yielded notable outcomes. Low-rise buildings experience a reduction in total energy requirements, while mid-rise and high-rise buildings exhibit an increase. For instance, adopting an urban design scenario featuring 20-story buildings and a street aspect ratio of 0.33 led to a rise in total energy demands between 8% and 19%. Furthermore, the street aspect ratio (H/W) emerges as the primary driver of UHI, whereas street orientation and building layout exert the most substantial influence on building energy requirements. Inefficient building layouts result in a significant increase in building energy needs, ranging from 106% to 121%, while less energy-efficient street orientations lead to total energy needs escalating by 28% to 76%.

Vibration characteristics and seismic performance of historical buildings with brick-wood structures

To explore the vibration characteristics and seismic performance of historical buildings in Tianjin, we conducted on-site vibration testing under ambient vibration on three historical buildings with brick-wood structures in Tianjin. Specifically, we delved into the vibration characteristics and seismic performance of historic buildings with brick-wood structures by establishing the vibration analysis model, performing the theoretical calculations, and conducting seismic performance analysis. The results reveal that 1) the vibration frequencies of historical buildings with brick-wood structures are low, mainly concentrated in 2.0-8.0 Hz, which conforms to the vibration range of general buildings; 2) based on vibration analysis, it is concluded that the structural integrity of these buildings is good and there are no obvious structural defects; 3) the layout and storey height of historical buildings have great impacts on the vibration characteristics and seismic performance. 4) the comprehensive seismic capacity index of three buildings ranges from 0.91 to 1.75. The results of dynamic analysis under ambient vibration are consistent with those of theoretical analysis, providing a basis for preserving and reinforcing historical buildings.

3D Visual Reconstruction as Prior Information for First Responder Localization and Visualization.

In professional use cases like police or fire brigade missions, coordinated and systematic force management is crucial for achieving operational success during intervention by the emergency personnel. A real-time situation picture enhances the coordination of the team. This situation picture includes not only an overview of the environment but also the positions, i.e., localization, of the emergency forces. The overview of the environment can be obtained either from known situation pictures like floorplans or by scanning the environment with the aid of visual sensors. The self-localization problem can be solved outdoors using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), but it is not fully solved indoors, where the GNSS signal might not be received or might be degraded. In this paper, we propose a novel combination of an inertial localization technique based on simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) with 3D building scans, which are used as prior information, for geo-referencing the positions, obtaining a situation picture, and finally visualizing the results with an appropriate visualization tool. We developed a new method for converting point clouds into a hexagonal prism map specifically designed for our SLAM algorithm. With this combination, we could keep the equipment for first responders as lightweight as required. We showed that the positioning led to an average accuracy of less than 1m indoors, and the final visualization including the building layout obtained by the 3D building reconstruction will be advantageous for coordinating first responder operations.

Global distinct variations of surface urban heat islands in inter- and intra-cities revealed by local climate zones and seamless daily land surface temperature data

The continuous dynamic of surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect is highly needed in urban climate studies. However, temporal variations of SUHI intensity (SUHII) have been understudied in previous studies owing to the lack of spatially seamless and temporally continuous land surface temperature (LST) data, particularly in urban domains. Also, the relationship between SUHII variations and heterogeneous landscapes, reflecting various thermal and biophysical properties, has not been comprehensively explored globally. Here, we investigated the annual dynamic of nighttime SUHII and the inter- (i.e., city level) and intra-city (i.e., local climate zones level) SUHII variations of 1,028 worldwide cities, using the annual temperature cycle (ATC) model and seamless daily LST data and local climate zones (LCZ) data. The results reveal that the annual mean SUHII (SUHIIM) in urban areas is 0.69 °C for nighttime with an increasing trend towards high latitudes, while the annual SUHII amplitude (SUHIIA) is 0.32 °C and is relatively stable along latitudes. Global SUHIIM and SUHIIA indicate a robust pattern that decreases with decreasing buildings’ height (i.e., from LCZ1 to LCZ3 and from LCZ4 to LCZ6) and increasing openness of building layout (i.e., from compact to open types). In contrast, the annual pattern of LST is mainly regulated by the background climate. The phase shift (i.e., day of year when the LST reaches its maximum value) of annual SUHII shows a distinct time lag effect along the LCZ gradient in cold climate zone. These findings are valuable for scientific planning of resilient cities and can mitigate the impact of heat islands on urban residents by optimizing the composition and configuration of urban landscapes, e.g., changing the height and morphology of buildings.

Biophilic Approach In The Hospitality Industry

Biophilia can be defined as individuals' inherited need for nature for physical and mental health, life satisfaction, and therefore an effort to return to nature and integrate with nature. There are basic principles that reflect this design approach to the space, such as natural materials, appropriate building layout, shelter ventilation, and the use of living materials. This research was organized to reveal the positive effects of biophilic designs on the physical and mental health of living things, based on the investigation of the effects of living space designs on people. Based on the research that prove that living things, especially human beings instinctively want to connect with the natural environment, the need for biophilic design principles has been revealed and the effects of these designs on spaces and people are pointed out. The article, which gives tips on how to use the principles of biophilia to transform living, sleeping, working, and resting spaces into spaces that inspire, revitalize, and enrich human life, also focuses on the application and evaluation criteria of biophilic design.

Ensemble machine learning framework for daylight modelling of various building layouts

AbstractThe application of machine learning (ML) modelling in daylight prediction has been a promising approach for reliable and effective visual comfort assessment. Although many advancements have been made, no standardized ML modelling framework exists in daylight assessment. In this study, 625 different building layouts were generated to model useful daylight illuminance (UDI). Two state-of-the-art ML algorithms, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and random forest (RF), were employed to analyze UDI in four categories: UDI-f (fell short), UDI-s (supplementary), UDI-a (autonomous), and UDI-e (exceeded). A feature (internal finish) was introduced to the framework to better reflect real-world representation. The results show that XGBoost models predict UDI with a maximum accuracy of R2 = 0.992. Compared to RF, the XGBoost ML models can significantly reduce prediction errors. Future research directions have been specified to advance the proposed framework by introducing new features and exploring new ML architectures to standardize ML applications in daylight prediction.

An integrated framework for residential layout designs: Combining parametric modeling, neural networks, and multi-objective optimization for outdoor activity space optimization

The quality of life of residents and community vitality is significantly enhanced by outdoor activity spaces within residential areas. Existing residential layout designs primarily focus on a restricted set of predefined layouts and most outdoor evaluation indices are limited to thermal comfort, thereby leading to an incomplete evaluation system. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of studies offering a comprehensive design process, from parameterized generation to performance evaluation. As such, there is a pressing need for an all-encompassing design framework that investigates a broad array of layout possibilities while providing multidimensional evaluations based on diverse metrics, thereby augmenting the accuracy and intelligence of residential layout designs.This research introduces a building layout generation framework that integrates parametric modeling (PD), neural network modeling (ANN), and multi-objective optimization (MOO) methods. The framework utilizes parametric design methods to construct a geometric model that adheres to building codes. Following this, it builds separate neural network models for three key metrics: sky view factor (SVF), sunshine duration, and noise, this approach is aimed at accelerating the evaluation process. This alternative model serves as the objective function for multi-objective optimization, identifying the optimal building layout that balances multiple metrics. Additionally, the framework utilizes the ideal point method to optimize the final Pareto solution set, thereby informing designers' and planners' program selections.Case studies of this framework indicate that the residential layouts generated can adhere to building codes while effectively balancing the three crucial metrics. Relative to the conventional modeling-evaluation process, this framework augments efficiency substantially. The design framework presented herein will offer comprehensive decision support for policy makers to optimize residential layout designs, further fostering the harmonious coexistence of people and cities, while advancing intelligent building design and sustainable urban development.

Statistical analysis for predicting low-occurrence strong wind speeds at the pedestrian level in an actual urban case

This study validated the applicability of two statistical methods (3W and 2W methods) for estimating low-occurrence strong wind speeds (LOSWSs) of an actual urban case (Case-TPU) based on the three-parameter and two-parameter Weibull distributions, respectively. The 3W method necessitates the mean, standard deviation, and skewness of wind speed, while the 2W method only requires the mean and standard deviation. The large-eddy simulation (LES) results of Case-TPU were validated using the wind tunnel experimental results and applied to the statistical analysis of the 3W and 2W methods. An analysis was conducted to assess the suitability of the 3W and 2W for fitting wind speed data obtained from the LES. The results showed that even though the 3W had a better fit than the 2W owing to the location parameter of 3W enhancing its adaptability, both methods exhibited a satisfactory fit to the wind speed data at the majority of points. Furthermore, the 3W and 2W methods showed high estimation accuracies of LOSWSs. For LOSWSs with exceedance probabilities of q = 10%, 1%, and 0.1%, the 3W method produced relative errors within 10%, while the 2W method yielded relative errors within 20%. The high estimation accuracy of LOSWSs for Case-TPU proved the robustness of the 3W and 2W methods for the urban area case with complicated building layout.

Free device location independent WiFi‐based localisation using received signal strength indicator and channel state information

AbstractThe trajectory localisation of human activities using signal analytics has become a reality due to the widespread use of advanced signal processing systems. Device‐free localisation using WiFi devices is prevalent, and the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) and channel state information (CSI) signals offer additional benefits. However, radio frequency (RF) localisation is highly dependent on the environment, so updating fingerprint data is necessary by changing the environment. This work presents Fine‐grained Indoor Detection and Angular Radar for recognising and locating humans using a multipath trajectory reflections system that does not require training. It estimates location using a probabilistic approach that considers changes in CSI and RSSI across multiple nodes, generating an informative dataset that reflects the current trajectory and status of the location. The presented method extracts data from clustered Raspberry Pi 4B and Nexmon. The method exhibits a versatile real‐time location‐tracking solution by utilising the distinctive properties of RF signals. This technology has significant implications for various applications, including human medical monitoring, gaming, smart cities, and optimising building layouts to improve efficiency. The model demonstrates location‐independent localisation with up to 80% accuracy in mapping trajectories at any location. The findings indicate that the proposed model is effective and reliable for indoor localisation and activity tracking, making it a promising solution for implementation in real‐world environments.

Comparative analysis of outdoor energy harvest of organic and silicon solar modules for applications in BIPV systems

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) have the potential to fill niches that traditional silicon photovoltaics (Si-PV) have left open so far. Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is one key area where OPV modules can play a vital role due to their functional attributes of semitransparency, flexibility, and lightweight. However, the architectural constraints and physical layout of buildings often do not allow the installation of photovoltaic (PV) modules at their optimal angles. Herein, we report the outdoor energy harvest of commercial OPV, and monocrystalline silicon (m-Si) modules mounted at inclinations of 45° and 90°, using the ISOS-O2 protocol as a test standard. The semitransparent OPV modules incorporating a P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction absorbing layer were found to offer daily specific energy yields (YF) that are 10–15% higher than those of the m-Si modules at 45° inclination. For vertical (90°) mounting, the YF of the OPV modules is even 24–30% higher than that of their inorganic counterparts, thus making them ideally suited for façade integrated BIPV. Laboratory investigations reveal that the superior performance of OPV modules in the vertical position is mainly due to a strongly enhanced fill factor (FF) at reduced in-plane irradiance. At a 45° inclination, the positive temperature coefficient of the OPV modules also plays an important role during high-irradiance hours.

Retracted: Modeling of Energy Saving and Comfort of Building Layout in Extreme Weather Urban Residential Area under the Background of Spatial Structure and Form Evolution: Taking Yichun as an Example

Retracted: Modeling of Energy Saving and Comfort of Building Layout in Extreme Weather Urban Residential Area under the Background of Spatial Structure and Form Evolution: Taking Yichun as an Example

DESIGN OF REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS OF ARCHIVE BUILDING WITH THE DIAPHRAGM DISCONTINUITY IRREGULARITY

The archive building is a building that serves as archive storage and an office. The layout of the archive building is designed to follow the standards of the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia. This research aims to analyze and design the elements of the structure of a 4-story archive building with diaphragm discontinuity irregularity of structure. The building structure designed has 4 working floors with a building length of 25 m, a width of 18 m, and a height of 21.17 m. Based on the results of the sondir test or Cone Penetration Test (CPT), the type of soil is classified as medium soil site class (SD) and indicates that the system of structures belongs to the seismic design category (SDC) "D". The designed structural elements which are beams, columns, and slabs, have a concrete quality (f'c) of 30 MPa, a longitudinal reinforcement quality (fy) of 420 MPa, and a transverse reinforcement (fyt) of 280 MPa. To obtain structural elements that are rigid, strong, and ductile, structural elements are designed to withstand moment and shear forces. Based on the results of analysis and design, the dimensions of the structural elements for main beams are 300 x 500 mm; secondary beams are 250 x 350 mm; columns are 550 x 550 mm; and thick slabs are 130 and 150 mm and had fulfilled the requirements of "Strong Columns Weak Beams."

A Reality of Quality of Life Lived! Socio-economic Impact of Selected Informal Settlements on Neighbourhood Quality in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria

The study assessed the selected informal settlements on neighbourhood quality in the Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria, and the Quality of Life (QoL) lived by residents. The objectives of the study were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the residents of the selected informal settlements; identify the causes of informal settlements development in the study area; identify and assess the impact of informal settlements development on the neighbourhood quality of residents’ QoL lived; and identify physical planning measures to improve the neighbourhood quality and QoL of the selected informal settlements. The study adopted a quantitative approach and a descriptive research design. The study employed purposive and simple random sampling techniques for the selection of two (2) settlements namely: Mgbushimini and Nkpor and one hundred (100) respondents were determined and sampled for the study using the Taro Yamane formula at a 10% precision level. The study found that the socio-economic characteristics of residents of the settlements are age bracket 39-48 years of adults and mostly married with an average of 4-5 persons per household. Educational qualification is mostly vocational education, employed temporary, casual and contract and engaged in trading/business and craft/technical. The development of these informal settlements is attributed to low rent, cheap land and free access to land. The buildings are permanent structures, rented apartments of rooming houses of 2-3 rooms as habitable spaces on average. The impacts are poor sanitary conditions, poor layout of buildings and a dirty environment. These conditions have made the residents rate their neighbourhood quality and QoL lived as mostly “fair”, “unsatisfied” and “very unsatisfied”. The study recommended that urban studies should be carried out on the settlements to ascertain the socio-economic characteristics of residents and where needs a priority for improvement, the government should declare the study area blighted and carry out urban renewal schemes to improve the physical, social, and economic conditions, basic urban infrastructure, facilities and services should be provided to improve residents’ access, neighbourhood quality and QoL lived.

Autonomy-supportive environments for people with dementia: an evidence-based review

Abstract Objective: As one of the core principles of person-centered care, supporting the autonomy of residents with dementia has received increasing attention worldwide. Supportive physical environments play an important role in promoting autonomy in the everyday life of residents in care facilities. However, there is no universal definition for autonomy in everyday life nor focused research on autonomy-supportive environments. Thus, this study aims to systematically review the existing evidence of autonomy-supportive design features based on a synthesized concept analysis of autonomy in everyday life. Methods: A synthesized concept analysis on autonomy was conducted based on related definitions of autonomy in design guidelines and environmental assessment tools of elderly care facilities. Using keywords from the concept analysis, multiple databases including PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Dementia Design Info were used to carry out a systematic review of autonomy-supportive environmental design features for people with dementia. Additional guidelines and standards were manually searched. The design features supported by empirical studies and studies based on experts’ experience were extracted from the literature. The evidence intensity of each feature was assessed according to the quality and quantity of related studies. Results: Four domains of autonomy, freedom, independence, control, and choice emerged based on the concept analysis. Seventy-eight autonomy-supportive design features were extracted from the literature. Features are summarized into 8 categories: building layout, circulation space, living room, dining space, bathroom, bedroom, outdoor space, and details. Of design features, 60% in the category of building layout have been cross-validated by empirical studies, whereas only 25% of the overall design features have. Conclusions: The results of this review show that numerous design features of the physical environment can support the autonomy of people with dementia in the 4 domains. Features of building layout are well researched and the evidence intensity for the rest of design features still needs to be improved through future empirical studies.

Discretized Cell Modeling for Optimal Layout of Multiple Tower Cranes

Multiple tower crane layout planning (MTCLP) refers to the selection of the types, quantities, and positions of tower cranes and material storage positions. In a construction project, choosing tower cranes with a larger covering radius and lifting capacity can reduce the transportation time of materials. However, it can also simultaneously raise the rental cost and the risk of crane crashes. Determining an optimal multiple tower crane layout plan to achieve high construction efficiency with low cost is still a challenge. Mathematically, MTCLP is a complex combinatorial problem controlled by a number of variables, such as site configuration, building layout, material storage positions, and workload. To precisely describe irregular shaped sites and buildings, this research partitioned the site into unit cells and proposed a cell-based optimization model. For the optimal crane layout plan, the problem was formulated as a mixed integer linear problem (MILP). The model’s mathematical constraints comprised coverage of the given positions, the crane’s safety distance, sufficient crane capacity, and the utilization ratio. The objectives were to increase the crane coverage ratio while reducing the cost and the working areas overlapped by more than two cranes. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model. The first construction project consisted of seven buildings with irregular shapes. By strictly forbidding the areas to be overlapped by more than three tower cranes, the model successfully obtained the optimal crane layout plan using the Gurobi Optimizer. Compared with the contractor’s layout plan, the optimal plan reduced the rental cost by 10.7% and the area overlapped by more than three tower cranes by 4.56%. In the second project, alternative plans were identified by the Gurobi Optimizer and ε-constraint method to enhance confidence in selecting the ultimate crane layout plan. The optimization procedure involved (1) optimizing the layout plan with minimum crane cost and maximum coverage ratio, (2) identifying all possible layouts as the Pareto fronts when the coverage ratio could not be raised without increasing the crane cost, and (3) minimizing the areas of crane overlap covered by more than three tower cranes. The effectiveness of the proposed model is also proved by comparing the differences in layout plans caused by “regular” and “urgent” lifting demands.

The development and validation of the Inhomogeneous Wind Scheme for Urban Street (IWSUS-v1)

Abstract. The layout of urban buildings shows significant heterogeneity, which leads to the significant spatial inhomogeneity of the wind field in and over the canopy of urban street canyons. However, most of the current urban canopy models do not fully consider the heterogeneity of the urban canopy. Large discrepancies thus exist between the wind speeds simulated by the current urban canopy models and those observed in the street canyon. In this study, a parameterization scheme for wind fields, Inhomogeneous Wind Scheme for Urban Street (IWSUS), is developed to better characterize the heterogeneity of the urban canopy. We use a computational fluid dynamics method to generate the IWSUS scheme and compare it with observations of the wind profile and turbulent flux in and over the street canyon for validation. In IWSUS, the wind speed vertical profiles at six representative positions located in a typical street canyon (i.e., the windward or leeward side of a long straight street or the inflow or outflow end) are parameterized separately. The wind profile by IWSUS thus can better describe the horizontal heterogeneity of the urban near-surface wind field, e.g., the dynamic drag effect of buildings in the lower atmospheric layer over the urbanized land use. The validation based on observations shows that the performance of simulation results by IWSUS is better than that by the exponential–logarithmic (exp-log) law widely used in the current urban schemes. We consider typical building arrangement and specific street orientations in IWSUS for wind field simulations, which can better match the distribution characteristics of street canyons around the observation point in the street canyon. The averaged wind profiles and turbulence energy fluxes in the model grids of urban areas by IWSUS are also nearer to the observations than those by the exp-log law. The normalized mean errors (NMEs) between the simulated and the observed vertical average wind speed are 49.0 % for IWSUS and 56.1 % for exp-log law in the range from the ground to 4 times the average height of the buildings and 70 % for IWSUS and 285.8 % for exp-log law in the street canyon (range from the ground to building top). This study proves that the accuracy of simulations of land surface processes and near-ground meteorological processes over the urban canopy can be improved by fully considering the heterogeneity of the urban canopy layout structures and the inhomogeneity of wind field distributions in and over the street canyon. IWSUS is expected to be coupled with mesoscale atmospheric models to improve the accuracy of the wind field, land surface energy budget, meteorological and atmospheric chemistry simulations.

Automated building layout generation using deep learning and graph algorithms

Designing architectural layouts is a complex task that has garnered significant attention in the research community. While automated site layout design and flat layout design have been extensively studied, automated building layout design has been relatively overlooked. This paper describes an approach for generating automated building layouts using deep learning and graph algorithms. A unique building layout dataset is created to support the proposed approach. Euclidean distance, Dice coefficient, and a force-directed graph algorithm are employed for layout selection and fine-tuning. The Input-controlled Spatial Attention U-Net model accurately segments the building region, and the resulting layout is refined through image operations, leading to comprehensive BIM models for designers. Through two generative case studies and a comparative experiment with neural networks, this paper demonstrates the effectiveness of the approach that can assist designers during the initial stages of design and enable a rapid generation of complete layouts for individual buildings.

Effects of Sky View Factor on Thermal Environment in Different Local Climate Zoning Building Scenarios—A Case Study of Beijing, China

As an essential structural indicator of buildings, sky view factor (SVF) is one of the most critical factors affecting the urban thermal environment. However, the relationship between SVF and the thermal environment at the neighborhood scale has not been adequately studied. Therefore, this paper investigates the relationship between SVF and air temperature in different building scenarios based on the Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification framework. Firstly, the study is based on multi-source urban data and the Open Street Map (OSM) to map the local climate zones in Beijing. Then, a simulation model with different LCZs was constructed based on realistic scenarios using the microclimate simulation software ENVI-met, and the thermal environment was simulated in 24 h on a single day in summer. Finally, the SVF and air temperature relationship under different LCZ scenarios was calculated and analyzed. The results show that (1) the SVF values of LCZ 1, LCZ 2, and LCZ 5 show a more apparent positive correlation with air temperature than other categories, and the SVF values of LCZ 6–9 show a negative and then positive correlation with air temperature; (2) in the morning, the dense building areas show a weak correlation with air temperature, and the differences in air temperature corresponding to the SVF values in different zones are greater; (3) in the morning, the air temperature in the dense building areas showed a weak correlation, the difference between the SVF values and the air temperature in different intervals was different, and when the SVF was larger or smaller, the air temperature change was smaller and concentrated, and the correlation between the air temperature and the SVF in the open building areas was not obvious; (4) with 12:00 as the dividing line, the SVF and the air temperature in all categories showed a weak positive correlation after this time. This study can provide guidance on optimizing building layouts and mitigating the impacts of urban heat on human health.

Numerical investigation of thermal-humidity environment in pedestrian area of ecological community with the porous pavement in arid areas

In this paper, the water evaporation from porous pavement is used to improve the thermal-humidity environment (THE) in pedestrian area of ecological community at the large wind and sand, and arid areas, such as Lanzhou in northwest China. A simulation model is established to analyze the THE of ecological community with the porous pavement in arid areas. And the water evaporation is considered from plant transpiration and porous pavement in this model. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results, the relative error was less than 13.5%. At the same time, the THE is also analyzed under different building layout, building spacing and building height. The results show that the average value of universal thermal climate index (UTCI) in pedestrian area increases with the building height, while the minimum value has little difference. This means that the local thermal discomfort would more likely occurs in ecological community with the building height increase. The local value of UTCI in pedestrian area decreases by about 8℃ when the building spacing is changed from 10 m to 40 m. The uniformity of UTCI is greatly improved when the building spacing rises to 25 m. The array building layout should be adopted in Lanzhou, the building spacing should be at least 25 m when the building height is 50 m. The above research results can provide theoretical guidance for improving the thermal comfort level of ecological community in Lanzhou.