Virk, Gurdane; (2020) Designing for the urban climate: an integrated methodology to assess the impact of the urban climate on building performance in the United Kingdom. Doctoral thesis (EngD), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

There are a wide range of weather data sources and modelling tools that measure and simulate urban environments. There is a current lack of guidance or best practice recommendations as to how to factor the outputs from these resources into building design.This is in part due to the inherent complexity of urban climate. In a warming climate and with increasing urbanisation, the impact of design interventions and mitigation measures needs to be understood both qualitatively and quantitatively. In acknowledgement of these challenges, this thesis aimed to investigate novel methods of integrating climate data from varying spatial and temporal scales and sources into building design through a series of case studies. The first study analysed how modelled city-scale climate data for London can be used to quantify the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. Modelled data has the advantage of varying spatial scales and resolutions. Comparisons between modelled and observed data in London demonstrated how the choice of urban and rural reference point can impact the magnitude of the estimated UHI effect. The second study assessed whether observed data from urban weather stations in Birmingham and Manchester can be used to create new urban weather files. The analysis showed that the local microclimate can substantially impact measurements of point observations. New CIBSE weather files for London were released during the research, featuring an urban weather station. A third case study showed that London's UHI can now be more usefully factored into building design and how the effectiveness of design adaptations for an office varied with location. These studies focused on city-scale effects, however building performance is also influenced by its surrounding neighbourhood and the local-scale microclimate. The final case study outlined a novel methodology of incorporating microclimate modelling results into building performance simulation. The microclimate model simulated how retrofitted green and cool roofs can reduce local air temperatures in Central London. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of these neighbourhood-scale mitigation measures at reducing overheating and energy use within an office.

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