Urban design in favor of human thermal comfort for hot arid climate using advanced simulation methods

Abstract

Improving outdoor human thermal comfort could be considered as one of the most important targets for achieving successful open space designs. In hot arid climate, residential neighborhoods are responsible for the high request of energy to provide cooling needs for the occupants’ comfort. The main problem is the non-responsive contemporary urban design to human thermal comfort and energy. In this context, this paper aims at testing specific landscape parameters that could enhance outdoor human thermal comfort. The study is limited to the microclimate at urban open space and will be conducted in New Borg El-Arab (hot arid city according to Middleton and others [1], Alexandria, Egypt). The adopted methodology is based on the use of ENVI-met 4.0 software to measure four thermal indices (air temperature, relative humidity, MRT and PMV) and assess outdoor human thermal comfort in an existing neighborhood. In addition, different design scenarios that emphasize different landscape elements were also assessed. The results of this analysis depict changing street networks, landscape design and materials could enhance the level of thermal comfort in the urban open spaces. Keywords: Thermal comfort, Urban design, Hot arid climate, Simulation methods, Envi-met