Sun & Wind
Solar Radiation in Urban Areas: Unveiling Complex Patterns and Addressing the Urban Heat Island Effect
Sun Analysis.
Balancing solar radiation is key to designing solar responsive buildings, striking the right balance between excessive and insufficient exposure. Facades and roofs are of paramount importance as the primary sun-exposed areas in urban environments, providing the foundation for energy-related functions within buildings, ranging from solar energy harvesting to cooling requirements. ENVI-met software provides efficient solar access modules that allow for quick and thorough assessments of solar exposure for all building facades, taking into account environmental factors such as vegetation.
Solar Climate.
ENVI-met software provides comprehensive microclimate analysis, ranging from short-term periods of a few days to long-term annual assessments, including vital climate parameters such as solar access. This enables accurate estimation of energy use on building facades and quantification of year-round growing conditions for plants. Gain detailed insight into both energy dynamics and optimal plant development throughout the year with advanced analysis capabilities.
Indexed View Sphere.
Highly reflective metal or glass facades can have a significant impact on the local microclimate by altering the reflection of solar radiation. The presence of such materials, such as aluminum, can result in a significant increase of 300 W/m² or more in the surrounding area compared to standard concrete structures. ENVI-met software incorporates the Indexed View Sphere (IVS) method, which allows accurate modeling of multi-reflection radiation fluxes and accurate estimation of thermal radiation, providing high resolution analysis.
Exploring Solar Radiation Modeling and Analysis: High-Resolution Modeling Case Study
High-resolution modelling of solar radiation in complex environments
Building façades and roofs represent the largest proportion of sun-exposed surfaces in urban areas. The energy available at the building‘s outer envelope provides a basis to determine the energy-related processes of the building, from its solar energy harvesting potential to its cooling demand.
The module Solar Access of ENVI-met allows you to conduct a quick but comprehensive analysis of solar radiation on all building façades, taking into account the environmental factors such as vegetation.
Solar Access also generates long-term analyses of important climate parameters such as solar access and offers sophisticated three-dimensional analysis tools to calculate and trace the distribution of short-wave direct, diffuse and reflected solar radiation within the outdoor environment with a high temporal and spatial resolution.
Mitigate Wind Risk and create comfortable outdoor conditions with ENVI-met’s High-Resolution wind simulation.
Wind field.
Key to the analysis of urban microclimate and air quality is the simulation of the three-dimensional wind field. This wind vector governs energy transport, pollutant dispersion, and wind-related human and vegetation comfort and risk. ENVI-met software integrates a comprehensive three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) system that continuously adapts to evolving thermal conditions. Supported by an advanced turbulence model, it provides the basis for accurate microclimate and air quality simulations.
Semi-open spaces.
Semi-open spaces, such as atriums, train stations, and stadiums, create unique microclimates that are influenced by both meteorological factors and the surrounding design. Wind and sun play a pivotal role in establishing a direct connection between these spaces and the external environment, fundamentally shaping their distinct characteristics. Understanding the interplay of wind and solar dynamics is critical to understanding and optimizing the microclimate within semi-open spaces.
Wind Forces.
When wind interacts with solid obstacles such as buildings, walls, or vegetation, motion forces are transmitted toward the obstacle and cause mechanical reactions in the obstacle. In an urban environment, both wind direction and wind speed can vary significantly due to jet effects and vortex formation. Therefore, a detailed analysis of the local flow conditions under varying wind directions is essential to ensure safe building construction and to avoid wind-blown debris or damage to urban trees.
Unveiling the Complexities of Wind Flow Dynamics: High-Resolution Modeling Case Study
High-resolution simulation of the wind flow
Due to the three-dimensional structure and building arrangement within cities, it is possible to experience areas with high wind speeds and turbulent wind gusts.
The opposite situation can be found in the immediate vicinity of those areas. Zones with very low wind speed and stagnating air masses can increase the effect of heat stress, the accumulation of pollutants and promote the development of pest species in vegetation.
The wind pattern at the building canvas is an important parameter for all energetic exchange processes and for the calculation of wind loads. The three-dimensional flow model of ENVI-met allows you to conduct a detailed simulation of the flow patterns at the building facade – including the impact of facade greening.
