Energy and Climate in the Urban Built Environment

Book description


Both the number and percentage of people living in urban areas is growing rapidly. Up to half of the world's population is expected to be living in a city by the end of the century and there are over 170 cities in the world with populations over a million.

Cities have a huge impact on the local climate and require vast quantities of energy to keep them functioning. The urban environment in turn has a big impact on the performance and needs of buildings. The size, scale and mechanism of these interactions is poorly understood and strategies to mitigate them are rarely implemented.

This is the first comprehensive book to address these questions. It arises out of a programme of work (POLISTUDIES) carried out for the Save programme of the European Commission. Chapters describe not only the main problems encountered such as the heat island and canyon effects, but also a range of design solutions that can be adopted both to improve the energy performance and indoor air quality of individual buildings and to look at aspects of urban design that can reduce these climatic effects.
The book concludes with some examples of innovative urban bioclimatic buildings.

The project was co-ordinated by Professor Mat Santamouris from the University of Athens who is also the editor of the book. Other contributions are from the University of Thessaloniki, Greece, ENTPE, Lyons, France and the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Table of Contents
  6. Part 1
    1. 1 On the built environment — the urban influence
      1. Some basic notes on the built environment
      2. Urbanization and climate
      3. Energy use
      4. Use of materials
      5. Air quality and noise
      6. Future priorities
      7. References
    2. 2 Climate and climate change
      1. The climate system
      2. Climate change
      3. Possible causes of climate change
      4. References
    3. 3 Wind patterns in urban environments
      1. Wind distribution in the urban environment
      2. Wind speed characteristics
      3. References
    4. 4 Thermal balance in the urban environment
      1. Urban energy fluxes
      2. The role of anthropogenic heat
      3. Solar, atmospheric and terrestrial radiation
      4. References
    5. 5 Heat-island effect
      1. Definitions and physical principles
      2. Heat-island parametric models
      3. Heat-island studies in Europe
      4. Heat-island studies in North America
      5. Heat-island studies in other countries
      6. Heat-island studies in hot Mediterranean climates
      7. References
    6. 6 The canyon effect
      1. The climate of urban canyons
      2. Temperature distribution in urban canyons
      3. Airflow in the urban canyon
      4. Prediction of the airspeed in canyons
      5. Urban canyon models References
      6. References
    7. 7 The energy impact of the urban environment
      1. Urban environment and the energy consumption of buildings
      2. Analysis of existing data correlating urban temperatures and energy consumption
      3. Natural ventilation in urban areas
      4. Night ventilation in urban areas
      5. References
    8. 8 Short-wave radiation
      1. Solar radiation in urban areas
      2. Energy balance in the urban canyon
      3. Methods for the calculation of short-wave radiation
      4. Daylight in urban areas
      5. Sunlighting
      6. Reflected sunlight and daylight
      7. Methods for calculating daylight in urban areas
      8. References
      9. Further reading
    9. 9 Urban pollution
      1. Urban pollution
      2. Air pollution in street canyons
      3. Urban noise
      4. References
    10. 10 The role of green spaces
      1. General — physicalprinciples
      2. Evaluation of the transpiration rate from trees
      3. The impact of trees and urban parks on ambient temperature and air quality
      4. The impact of trees on the energy consumption of buildings
      5. References
    11. 11 Appropriate materials for the urban environment
      1. General and physical principles
      2. Optical characteristics of materials
      3. Albedo of urban areas
      4. The role of materials in the energy consumption of buildings and cities
      5. References
    12. 12 Applied lighting technology for urban buildings
      1. Fundamentals of lighting
      2. Vision and colour
      3. Daylighting
      4. Designing with daylight
      5. References
      6. Further reading
    13. 13 Active solar heating systems for urban areas
      1. Systems for solar energy supply
      2. Solar technology
      3. Economics
      4. European overview
      5. Examples of German projects
      6. Future prospects
      7. References
    14. 14 Indoor air quality and ventilation in the urban environment
      1. Indoor air quality
      2. Indoor pollutants and pollutant sources
      3. International standards for indoor air quality
      4. Reducing indoor pollutant concentration
      5. Ventilation strategies
      6. Natural ventilation
      7. Mechanical ventilation
      8. References
      9. Further reading
    15. 15 Urban Settlements
      1. The site and the location
      2. Urban morphologies
      3. Urban dynamics
      4. Building design
  7. Part 2
    1. 16 Guidelines for integrating energy conservation techniques in urban buildings
      1. Introduction
      2. Design guidelines
      3. Energy conservation strategies
      4. Passive solar heating strategies
      5. Passive solar cooling strategies
      6. Natural lighting strategies
      7. References
      8. Further reading
    2. 17 Examples of urban buildings
      1. Example building 1 – a conventional multi-use building in Thessaloniki, Greece
      2. Example building 2 – a passive solar single house in Athens, Greece
      3. Example building 3 – a passive solar single house in Athens, Greece
      4. Example building 4 – a passive solar apartment house in Athens, Greece
      5. Example building 5 – an apartment and office building in Nice, France
      6. Example buildings 6 and 7 – a primary school and a gymnasium with a centralsolarh eating planthaving seasonalstorage in Neckarsulm, Germany
      7. Example building 6 – a solar primary school in Neckarsulm, Germany
      8. Example building 7 – a solar gymnasium in Neckarsulm, Germany
      9. References
  8. Appendix

Product information

  • Title: Energy and Climate in the Urban Built Environment
  • Author(s): M. Santamouris
  • Release date: June 2013
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781134257973