Pedestrian Height Research Articles

Evaluating the cooling performance of vegetation combined with a fountain in horizontal and vertical urban environments

Urban greenery and fountains effectively mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect. While many studies have assessed individual vegetation configurations (grass, shrub, and tree) and fountains at pedestrian heights, few have explored their combined effects horizontally and vertically. This study uses the ENVI-met model to evaluate the cooling effects of three vegetation configurations and their combinations with fountains in a typical historical and cultural neighborhood. The “grass, shrub, tree and fountain” scenario achieved the most substantial cooling, reducing air temperature (Ta) by 5.61 °C and mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) by 17.39 °C. Adding shrubs to the existing trees had minimal impact on Ta and Tmrt. Incorporating fountains into various vegetation configurations scenarios further lowered Ta by 3.58°C-3.66 °C and Tmrt by 2.97°C-3.27 °C. Trees primarily improved Tmrt through shading, while fountains were more effective at reduce Ta. This study offers theoretical and scientific guidance for optimizing urban street microclimate design from horizontal and vertical perspectives.

An Investigation of Globe Temperature in Street Canyons: A Scaled Model Study Implementing Cool Materials

The measurement of globe temperature (GT) is essential for investigating pedestrian thermal comfort in street canyons. The globe thermometer is the most common instrument used to measure GT; however, its application in scale models has not been thoroughly investigated to date. Therefore, this study explicitly investigates globe thermometer measurements in scale models and analyzes the need for customization of the globe thermometer for more reliable measurements. Scaling down with respect to the size of the globe thermometer and the effect of solar orientation/envelope materials are investigated in this study. The initial experiments were carried out in an outdoor setting using a typical street canyon model (scale 1:100) with an east-west street orientation. The results of the experiment are presented to compare a low solar reflectance street canyon (albedo of 0.4) and a high solar reflectance canyon (albedo of 0.6) in terms of surface temperatures, heat flux, and globe temperature. It is observed that although the wall and road surface temperatures are lower for the high solar reflectance canyon compared to those for the low solar reflectance canyon, the GT (measured at pedestrian height) is higher in a high reflectance canyon during the daytime, which could be due to the combined effect of direct radiation and short-wave reflection. However, for the hours after sunset, a reverse effect is observed, i.e., the GT becomes lower (up to 0.8 °C) in the case of a high reflectance canyon compared to that for the low reflectance canyon. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the impact of solar reflectance of canyon surfaces on GT values, due to the view factors that the globe thermometer on those surfaces.

Development of predictive indices for evaluating the UHI adaptation potential of green roof- and wall-based scenarios in the Mediterranean climate

Urban heat islands can jeopardize urban inhabitants, but the installation of green roofs (GRs) and walls (GWs) can contribute to mitigating urban overheating. The present study provides novel indices to easily predict the spatial median variation in air temperature at pedestrian heights related to the application of GR- and GW-based scenarios during the hottest hours of a typical summer day by varying the building height (BH), coverage percentage, and leaf area index. The indices are meant to be applied to built areas with 0.3–0.4 urban density in the Mediterranean climate and are derived from regression models fed with the outputs of 281 simulations of three urban areas developed and run in ENVI-met software. The developed models are all highly significant. The GR model shows that mitigation is influenced by all three parameters, and it can estimate mitigation with a root mean square error of 0.05 °C. Compared with the other parameters, the GW models revealed that the BH did not influence the decrease in air temperature. The green façade and living wall (LW) indices predict mitigation with errors of 0.04 °C and 0.05 °C, respectively. However, for the LW model, further parameters should be considered to improve its reliability.

Prediction of the classification of the pedestrian landing mechanism in pedestrian-vehicle collisions

To predict the classification of the pedestrian landing mechanism in pedestrian-vehicle collisions, 1303 reconstructed real pedestrian-vehicle collision cases were selected, and relevant data from before, during, and after the collisions were extracted. A total of 1303 sets of data with eight parameters were obtained via significance analysis, correlation analysis, and collinearity analysis. Then, the Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN), Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimized BPNN (GA-BPNN), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) optimized BPNN (PCA-BPNN), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) optimized BPNN (PCA-GA-BPNN) were used to construct prediction models for the classification of the pedestrian landing mechanism, and the prediction effects were evaluated. The PCA-GA-BPNN model was found to be the optimal model; the prediction accuracies of the pre-collision, in-collision, and post-collision models were 72.4%, 96.4%, and 96.8%, respectively. Further analysis revealed that the optimal model could also accurately predict the classification of the pedestrian landing mechanism in six cadaver experiments. Additionally, the ratio of the pedestrian height to the vehicle hood height ( R P-V) was found to have an impact on the prediction effect of the model. Thus, an improved model considering R P-V was proposed, and was found to significantly improve the prediction accuracy of pedestrian forward-throwing mechanism. The research results provide new ideas for ground-related injury prediction, and also provide support for pedestrian protection in intelligent vehicles.

On the impact of climate change on urban microclimate, thermal comfort, and human health: Multiscale numerical simulations

Climate change is expected to aggravate urban microclimatic conditions and have adverse effects on human morbidity and mortality. However, there is limited knowledge on the impact of climate change on urban microclimate and human health for actual urban areas. In this study, we investigate the impact of climate change on urban microclimate and pedestrian thermal comfort within a complex district in Nicosia, Cyprus. Two climatic scenarios are considered: (i) current scenario based on meteorological conditions derived from field measurements performed in 2010, and (ii) future scenario for which meteorological conditions of 2050 are based on downscaled Regional Climate Models (RCMs). URANS CFD simulations are performed for the period of 9–10 July with a 1-h time-step. The results show that by 2050, the maximum air temperature at the pedestrian height of the case study area can increase by 2.3 °C which can increase heat-related mortality by more than 240 %. The UTCI is expected to significantly increase especially in the afternoon hours with up to a 4.3 °C increase at 20:00. The “very strong heat stress” conditions (UTCI: 38–46 °C) are expected to prevail for a longer period during the day, increasing from 3.3 to 6.6 h. In addition, the “extreme heat stress” conditions (UTCI: >46 °C) are expected to apply in parts of the area. This prolonged exposure to heat stress can incite additional health risks.

Integrated assessment of bioaerosol dispersion patterns and infection risk in a typical urban environment: Implications for urban biosecurity management

Exposure to bioaerosols in high-density urban environments will pose a severe threat to human life and health and present significant challenges to the sustainability and resilience of cities. In this study, the aerodynamic dispersion patterns of bioaerosols at two release locations (open and dense areas) under both thermal conditions in Zhongguancun, Beijing, are investigated. By coupling a dose-response model and an improved cellular automaton, the infection risk within exposed populations was assessed, and emergency evacuation strategies for distinct populations in high-risk areas were devised. This study reveals that bioaerosol distribution is notably influenced by factors such as thermal conditions, release locations and pedestrian height. Bioaerosol concentration above the release source decreases with increasing pedestrian height at two release locations. Under the same exposure time, the infection probability of different groups in this area declines with pedestrian height increases, with adult males having the highest and elderly females having the lowest probability. Thermal conditions and building layout near the release source were second only to exposure time in influencing infection probability and evacuation path. Proximity to the release source indicates a high infection probability but a short evacuation distance to safe areas, while downstream areas exhibit lower infection probability but require longer evacuation distances. The layout of buildings near the release source has the most significant effect on evacuation time. Evacuation for high-risk populations should be prioritized upstream or either side of the mainstream. This study aims to mitigate potential biological threats, address challenges in enhancing urban biosecurity management, and enable sustainable urban development.

Evaluation and optimization of outdoor wind environment in block based on space syntax and CFD simulation.

The wind environment quality at the height of pedestrians can significantly affect the thermal comfort and physical and mental health of pedestrians, promote the diffusion of air pollutants and inhibit the formation of urban heat island effect, and has been paid more and more attention in the field of urban and rural planning. This paper takes Jianlan Road commercial pedestrian Street as an example to maximize the thermal comfort of pedestrians. Based on CFD numerical simulation technology and space syntax theory, the pedestrian wind environment of the accessible space of the block is selected for quantitative research. Through numerical simulation, the influence of block spatial form on the wind environment at pedestrian height under the initial condition of uniform air flow is analyzed, and some suggestions are put forward for the optimization of block spatial form. Finally, the block optimization scheme is verified and simulated. The visualization results show that the wind environment quality of the optimized high-accessibility space is significantly improved, the proportion of comfort zone is increased from 58.2% to 86%, and the static wind rate is reduced from 41.8% to 14%. The wind environment optimization effect is obvious.

Application of a comprehensive atmospheric boundary layer model to a realistic urban-scale wind simulation

Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) is the region below the stratosphere that is significantly affected by Earth’s surface. In this article, an improved ABL model has been tested and validated with field measurements, while simultaneously highlighting the consequences of using an incorrectly formulated ABL model when performing pedestrian wind comfort and safety analysis using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in a full-scale, realistic setting. The improved ABL model was successfully validated on wind tunnel scale test cases previously, and this article provides evidence that the validation can be extended to realistic, urban-scale test cases as well. Steady, incompressible, Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations were performed and the results obtained from the incorrect ABL model are compared with those from an improved, consistent ABL model, and the main differences between the two formulations are pointed out in terms of wind velocities and turbulent kinetic energies at the pedestrian height level, and wind comfort maps. The analyses show that using an incorrectly formulated ABL model results in an over-prediction of near-ground velocities due to an artificial wind acceleration, a significant under-prediction of turbulent kinetic energy values, and consequently resulting in a significantly worse pedestrian wind comfort map that differs up to 3 comfort classes in some regions.

Research on Microclimate-Suitable Spatial Patterns of Waterfront Settlements in Summer: A Case Study of the Nan Lake Area in Wuhan, China

As China’s urbanization progresses, thermal environmental problems such as the overheating effect experienced by cities are becoming more and more obvious in the daily lives of residents. Urban waterfront spaces not only create pleasant landscape environments and regulate microclimates, but also help to maintain ecological diversity. However, the current high-density urban construction model has led to poor air mobility and weakened water regulation functions in cities. Therefore, the rationalization of the spatial form of settlements has become particularly important in recent times. In this study, the Nan Lake area of Wuhan City was taken as the research object, and it was simulated using ENVI-met (5.5.1) software. Further, the orthogonal experimental design method was combined with the extremum difference analysis method. This study focused on the effects of the layout form (LF), floor area ratio (FAR), green form (GF), and offshore distance (OD) on the temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and thermal comfort in waterfront settlements in summer. This study found that (1) among the various factors, the effect of the GFs and LFs on the overall microclimate of the study region was the most significant, while the volume ratio had the least significant effect on each indicator. (2) The parallel layout form was found to have better ventilation effects compared to the other three layout forms, with its cooling and humidifying effects being superior. (3) Among the four types of greening combinations, the combination of “grass + shrubs” had the best cooling effect at the height of pedestrians, while trees were able to reduce the heat transfer of solar radiation to the ground due to the shading and evaporation effects provided by their canopies. (4) The cooling and humidifying effects provided by the water body of Nan Lake gradually diminished as the distance from its shore increased; therefore, waterfront settlements maintaining a reasonable proximity to their water bodies will help bring into play the microclimate adjustment effect of such bodies. This study provides a valuable reference for the construction and renewal of urban waterfront settlements in the hot summer and cold winter zones of China (HSCW).

Research on the wind environment in an enclosed courtyard: Effect of the opening position, size and wind angle

With the urbanization process in China, outdoor thermal environments are drawing increasing attention, of which comfortable pedestrian height wind environments are crucial for urban outdoor spaces. Few studies have been conducted on the comfort wind zone ratio (CWZR)11Abbreviations: CFD, computational fluid dynamics; CWZR, comfort wind zone ratio; MWSR, mean wind speed ratio; SWZR, static wind zone ratio. models for openings in enclosed courtyards. We quantitatively analyzed the effects of different opening positions, sizes, and wind angles on the wind environment of campus enclosed courtyards via computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, and CWZR models were established for different opening sizes and wind angles. The results are as follows: (1) The opening position, opening size and wind angle significantly affected the outdoor wind environment. (2) Under the dominant wind direction in summer, the cross-opening position better improved the courtyard wind environment than the symmetrical opening. The courtyard CWZR significantly increased with increasing inlet opening size and increased with decreasing outlet opening size. (3) A wind angle from 2° to 47° is the recommended angle for typical courtyard opening types, and the maximum courtyard CWZR occurred at a wind angle of 10°. The study results could guide courtyard building design and courtyard wind environment optimization and enrich the theoretical study of outdoor wind environments.

Effect of optimal allocation of urban trees on the outdoor thermal environment in hot and humid areas: A case study of a university campus in Guangzhou, China

The process of urbanization in developing countries has had an ecological impact, destroying the outdoor thermal environment, especially in hot and humid areas where high summer temperatures are a nuisance for human outdoor activities. The role of urban greening in improving the regional microclimate has been confirmed by many studies. To improve the outdoor thermal environment, taking a university campus in Guangzhou as an example, the tree species and tree geometric parameters were analyzed, the ENVI-met model was established, and a simulation platform was calibrated based on the measured data, which improved the accuracy of the simulation platform. In this simulation platform, the maximum root mean square errors of air temperature and humidity were as low as 1.49 °C and 5.63 %, respectively. To reveal the influence of the physical morphology of tree species and their community characteristics on the outdoor thermal environment, six typical greening tree species and 37 green space configurations were established, and the influence of each tree species and their spatial configurations on the cooling effect of the outdoor environment was simulated. The results showed that the leaf area index, crown width, and tree height had a great influence on the ground temperature and sensible heat flux under the tree canopy, and the cooling effect of the tree group was improved when the height of the trees exceeded 10 m, with an ideal canopy coverage of 30 %. Optimizing the green space configuration reduced the temperature at pedestrian height (1.5 m) in the study area by up to 1.5 °C, and a reduction of 0.5 °C was observed over approximately 50 % of the green area during the peak summer temperatures (14:00–16:00), mitigating the microclimate heat environment. This study can enable urban planners to determine the type, quantity, and spatial allocation of green vegetation to improve the urban thermal environment.

Computational fluid dynamics analysis of pollutant dispersion around a high-rise building: Impact of surrounding buildings

Understanding the detailed mechanism of pollutant dispersion in urban areas is a critical aspect of air quality control in residential areas. In this study, wind tunnel measurements and high-resolution computational fluid dynamic (CFD) based on large eddy simulation (LES) were used for the detailed analysis of the pollutant dispersion around a high-rise building for an isolated case and also a case when the central high-rise building was surrounded by several low-rise buildings. The pollutant was released on the leeward façade of the high-rise building at the pedestrian height. It was shown that the presence of the surrounding buildings significantly alters the pollutant transfer mechanism around the high-rise building. In the surrounded case, the pollutant in the wake region shifted vertically toward the roof of the high-rise building. As a result, at a location of 2/3 of the high-rise building height, the mean concentration is five times larger than the isolated case, which means the residents on higher floors experience more pollution concentration in the case of the surrounded case even though they are located much higher than the canyon rooftop and the pollutant source. In both cases, the contribution of the turbulent diffusive flux in the streamwise direction is comparable with the mean convective flux while they have opposite directions. Detailed analyses of the pollutant mass transfer rate budget around different control volumes around the high-rise buildings highlighted the effect of the surrounding buildings. It is concluded that there is a risk of underestimating pollutant concentrations around a high-rise building, especially near the upper floors if the surrounding buildings are not properly considered.

The right tree for the right street canyons: An approach of tree species selection for mitigating air pollution

Trees planted in street canyons affect the dispersion and deposition of air pollutants primarily through their aerodynamic and deposition effects to change the air quality. However, the potential of trees to improve air quality is uncertain as it depends on a combination of tree forms (species), street canyon geometry and local meteorological conditions. We developed a method to select tree forms with appropriate morphology in specific street canyons based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation, aiming to promote the dispersion and concentration reduction of pollutants at pedestrian height. In this method, we combined the leaf area density (LAD), crown diameter (CD), tree height (H), and trunk height (TH) as representative metrics for various tree forms. The effects of street canyon aspect ratio, wind direction, and wind speed on the potential of trees to regulate pollutant concentrations were comprehensively considered. In a case study in Wuhan, China, 15 tree forms and corresponding 36 tree species adapted to different street canyons were identified using the validated ENVI-met model. Our research offers practical recommendations and effective tools for professionals and policymakers to select tree species that can enhance the air quality in street canyons.

Influence of subway entrance layout on indoor and outdoor environments in street canyons with different geometric form

With increasing subway use and in-depth research on pollution associated with subway systems, human exposure to pollutants in metros has received widespread attention. Studies on street pollution, flow fields, and relationships between external pollution and subway entrances have not been fully explored. This study focused on street canyons that contain subway entrances to determine the effects of different street canyon morphologies and subway entrance locations on the pollutants present in the environment. After verifying the feasibility of the software through a neighborhood experiment that applied the ENVI-met model for pollutant dispersion in the canyon, we analyzed the fine particle distribution and wind environment using variable models for streets with different subway entrance locations. The results showed that (1) inside subway entrances, pollution was more severe on the windward than the leeward side; (2) descending street canyon morphology was the most detrimental to air quality inside subway entrances; (3) street canyons rising along the wind direction were most favorable for air quality at pedestrian height inside the neighborhood; (4) at subway entrances located in the street extension direction, the leeward subway entrances had higher particulate matter concentrations at the center of the building, whereas windward subway entrances exhibited higher concentrations near the edge of the building. This study suggested that indoor exposure to pollutants in the subway is sensitive to the layout of entrances in street canyons with different geometries and provides recommendations to improve the layout of subway entrances based on air quality.

Optimizing block morphology for reducing traffic pollutant concentration in adjacent external spaces of street canyons: A machine learning approach

Residential blocks located in near-road environments are exposed to traffic-related air pollution that adversely affects the health of residents. Pedestrian height areas in adjacent external spaces (AES) of street canyons are most severely affected by traffic pollutants. In order to find block morphological optimization strategies that can mitigate the concentration of pollutants in the area, machine learning (ML) regression models were investigated to replace the time-intensive computer fluid dynamic (CFD) model. Data from 1000 CFD simulation cases were used to train and test the ML models. The best surrogate model was selected and coupled with optimization algorithms. Both single-objective and multi-objective optimization problems based on regional concentration parameters were discussed. The results showed that the block's standard deviation of building height (BHstd) was an essential morphological parameter that can effectively impact the pollutant concentration. The effect mechanism of the building height at different locations in the block on the concentration of the pollutant in the different regions also varies. The optimum block configuration obtained from the optimizations coupled ML model can facilitate reducing pollutant concentrations. This study provides a framework for residential block design optimization that can help urban designers efficiently evaluate and select block layouts conducive to reducing the impact of traffic pollutants.

Passenger and heavy vehicle collisions with pedestrians: Assessment of injury mechanisms and risk

ObjectiveAutomated Driving System (ADS) fleets are currently being deployed in several dense-urban operational design domains within the United States. In these dense-urban areas, pedestrians have historically comprised a significant portion, and sometimes the majority, of injury and fatal collisions. An expanded understanding of the injury risk in collision events involving pedestrians and human-driven vehicles can inform continued ADS development and safety benefits evaluation. There is no current systematic investigation of United States pedestrian collisions, so this study used reconstruction data from the German In-Depth Accident Study (GIDAS) to develop mechanistic injury risk models for pedestrians involved in collisions with vehicles. Data sourceThe study queried the GIDAS database for cases from 1999 to 2021 involving passenger vehicle or heavy vehicle collisions with pedestrians. MethodsWe describe the injury patterns and frequencies for passenger vehicle-to-pedestrian and heavy vehicle-to-pedestrian collisions, where heavy vehicles included heavy trucks and buses. Injury risk functions were developed at the AIS2+, 3+, 4+ and 5+ levels for pedestrians involved in frontal collisions with passenger vehicles and separately for frontal collisions with heavy vehicles. Model predictors included mechanistic factors of collision speed, pedestrian age, sex, pedestrian height relative to vehicle bumper height, and vehicle acceleration before impact. Children (≤17 y.o.) and elderly (≥65 y.o.) pedestrians were included. We further conducted weighted and imputed analyses to understand the effects of missing data elements and of weighting towards the overall population of German pedestrian crashes. ResultsWe identified 3,112 pedestrians involved in collisions with passenger vehicles, where 2,524 of those collisions were frontal vehicle strikes. Furthermore, we determined 154 pedestrians involved in collisions with heavy vehicles, where 87 of those identified collisions were frontal vehicle strikes. Children were found to be at higher risk of injury compared to young adults, and the highest risk of serious injuries (AIS 3+) existed for the oldest pedestrians in the dataset. Collisions with heavy vehicles were more likely to produce serious (AIS 3+) injuries at low speeds than collisions with passenger vehicles. Injury mechanisms differed between collisions with passenger vehicles and with heavy vehicles. The initial engagement caused 36% of pedestrians' most-severe injuries in passenger vehicle collisions, compared with 23% in heavy vehicles collisions. Conversely, the vehicle underside caused 6% of the most-severe injuries in passenger vehicle collisions and 20% in heavy vehicles collisions. SignificanceU.S. pedestrian fatalities have risen 59% since their recent recorded low in 2009. It is imperative that we understand and describe injury risk so that we can target effective strategies for injury and fatality reduction. This study builds on previous analyses by including the most modern vehicles, including children and elderly pedestrians, incorporating additional mechanistic predictors, broadening the scope of included crashes, and using multiple imputation and weighting to better estimate these effects relative to the entire population of German pedestrian collisions. This study is the first to investigate the risk of injury to pedestrians in collisions with heavy vehicles based on field data.

Assessment of Outdoor Pedestrian Ventilation Performance While Controlling Building Array Scale and Density

In hot and humid regions of China, people experience great discomfort. Good ventilation improves human comfort by facilitating the discharge of heat in a region. None of the previous studies considered which scale is appropriate for the outdoor ventilation of building arrays, and the ventilation performance differs with the array size. Moreover, the building density has an upper limit in Chinese cities, and many studies overestimate this density. Based on these considerations, the neighborhood block is proposed to represent the scale of building arrays with the combination of the urban planning scale and climatic scale. Using this scale, the building density and representative building array configurations for hot and humid regions of China were determined. The outdoor ventilation of these building arrays at the pedestrian height was then studied via computational fluid dynamics simulations. The results show that, in the neighborhood block, an increase in the building height and length is beneficial for the mean velocity, whereas an increase in the building distance is not, and a staggered layout has a negative effect on ventilation. Furthermore, the semi-enclosed layouts are no better than the enclosed layouts in terms of ventilation and sunlight. Some contributions contradict the existing studies because of the selection of different array scales and densities, which prove their significance.

Local wind in urban canyons of a residential area in Quito-Ecuador

This study evaluates the behavior of the wind from its speed in representative urban canyons of residential buildings in the city of Quito. The methodology was based on the selection of case studies from the area of Concepción located in the north of the city to build simplified models according to their aspect ratio height / width (H / W) in blocks of 250 m by 250 m. In each case includes multiple configurations of urban canyons, giving priority to the west-east and north-south orientations, which are simulated by the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The local wind is evaluated according to pedestrian height and their predominant direction obtained from the historical information obtained from the weather station in the area. The results show that the predominant relationship of the wind retains higher speeds when it flows canyons with a lower H/W ratio.

Use of Computational Fluid Dynamics to Study Ammonia Concentrations at Pedestrian Height in Smart Broiler Chamber Clusters

NH3 emissions are an environmental issue that is of wide concern in livestock production. In intensive livestock farming, it is necessary to study outdoor ammonia concentrations under various conditions to maximize the protection of livestock caretakers’ health in and around the facilities. In this study, the ammonia concentrations outside smart broiler chambers in 60 scenarios, with conditions including 4 broiler chamber densities, 3 wind directions, and 5 outlet emission intensities, were simulated based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology. The results show that (1) outdoor ammonia tends to accumulate near the outlet when the wind direction angle is small, while it has a wider range of influence when the angle is vertical; (2) building a smart broiler chamber cluster for intensive livestock farming is environmentally friendly; and (3) keeping the ammonia outlet perpendicular to the local dominant wind direction can effectively prevent high concentrations of ammonia around the chambers. In practical applications, the conclusions of this study can be used to arrange the layout and direction of smart broiler chamber clusters.

A Simulation Study of the Outdoor Wind Environment of Low Carbon Buildings in Cold Regions Based on PHOENICS Software

Based on PHOENICS software, the suitability of the outdoor wind environment at pedestrian heights of a low-carbon building under different operating conditions was quantitatively analysed using a κ-ε numerical model of low-speed turbulence. Three simulated conditions for the outdoor wind environment of low carbon buildings were determined by typical annual meteorological parameters for Shijiazhuang in cold regions. Combining the information on the full domain flow field obtained from the numerical simulations, the appropriate wind environment parameters were determined. The analysis of the wind environment indicators revealed that the low carbon buildings studied had clear year-round wind flow lines, with no dead zones and no obvious vortex areas. The wind speed at the pedestrian height of the low carbon building under different working conditions was less than 5 m/s (Wind speed in winter, summer and transitional season were 2.95 m/s, 2.54 m/s, and 3.3 m/s respectively), which meets the requirements of human comfort and standard regulations. The surface pressure difference between the different operating conditions (winter, summer and transitional seasons) of the low carbon building is not higher than 5 Pa, which meets the requirements for wind protection in winter in the area and contributes to the comfort level required for ventilation in summer. The study of the building wind environment can effectively identify the gap between the design and the actual use process, providing effective reference and guidance for the actual construction.