We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Urban Temperature Analysis and Impact on the Building Cooling Energy Performances: An Italian Case Study.
- Authors
Zinzi, Michele; Romeo, Carlo; Carnielo, Emiliano; Mangione, Alessandro
- Abstract
The heat island effect in urban environments, (whatever the size and the latitude determining the effect intensity) is dramatically increasing due to climate changes and urban sprawl. The urban heat island is a phenomenon observed since the last decades of the XIX century, but diffused to a large scale only one century later. It is characterised by the increase of air temperature in densely built urban environments with respect to nearby natural landscape areas. Many available studies show urban heat island intensities up to 12°C. This thermal stress causes social, health and environmental hazards, with major impacts on weak social classes, such as elderly and low income people. This study presents first results of air temperature monitoring campaigns in different neighbourhoods of Rome, a metropolitan area characterised by a typical Mediterranean climate and by a complex urban texture, in which densely built areas and green or not-built zones border one another. Six spots were monitored since June 2014; they include: historical city centre, semi-central zones with different construction typologies, and surrounding areas with various urban and building contexts. This paper explores the summer temperature profiles within the city and their increase respect to suburban areas' values. UHI intensities up to 10°C were monitored as well as monthly UHI up to 3.4°C in the hottest area of the city. The impact on the cooling performance and the thermal response of reference buildings were also assessed. Temperature datasets and the reference building model were inputted into adynamic calibrated calculation software. In addition, cooling net energy demand of the reference building as well as operative temperature fluctuation in the not cooled building configuration were calculated. The results of calculation allow to compare the energy and thermal performances in the urban environment with respect to the reference conditions, being the latter typically adopted by national building codes. 50 and 100% relative increasing of cooling demand were calculated, respectively, for insulated and not insulated buildings.
- Subjects
URBAN heat islands; URBAN temperature; THERMAL comfort; TEMPERATURE; HAZARDS
- Publication
Renewable Energy & Sustainable Development, 2016, Vol 2, Issue 1, p45
- ISSN
2356-8518
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.21622/RESD.2016.02.1.045