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Thermal impact of the orientation and height of vertical greenery on pedestrians in a tropical area

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Abstract

At the beginning of the 21st century, increasing amount of greenery in urban areas has been a priority for many urban planners following a social and environmental demand of the population. Many sustainability benefits can be attributed to urban green infrastructures. In this study we focus on analyzing the impact of vertical green systems (VGSs) on outdoor climate variables and thermal comfort by means of modelling techniques (ENVI-met v.4.3). The study is carried out in a courtyard surrounded by high-rise buildings in the hot and humid tropical climate of Singapore. Results show that weather conditions have a significant influence on the outdoor thermal performance of VGSs. Thermal comfort perception can be reduced by one category (e.g. from hot to warm) close to the façade depending on the geographic orientation of the VGS. Finally, this study shows that thermal benefits for pedestrians are provided mainly by the lowest meters of the VGS. Green elements above 6 meters in the facade reduce significantly the impact at pedestrian level. Results provide an insight to the implementation and dimensions of VGSs as urban infrastructure to improve the outdoor thermal environment, particularly in the tropical urban environment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank researchers in CENSAMSMART, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore ETH Center (SEC) and Technical University of Munich (TUM) for the fruitful discussions in the framework of the ‘Cooling Singapore’ project. The work leading to these results was financially supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) under its Campus for Research Excellence And Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CENSAM, Singapore-MIT Aliance for Reasearch and Tecnology (SMART), 1 Create Way, #09-03, Singapore, 138602, Singapore

    Juan A. Acero, Elliot J. Y. Koh, XianXiang Li & Gloria Pignatta

  2. Singapore-ETH Centre (SEC), 1 Create Way, CREATE Tower, #06-01, Singapore, 138602, Singapore

    Lea A. Ruefenacht

  3. Department of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Tecnology (MIT), 265 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Leslie K. Norford

  4. Faculty of Built Environment, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Gloria Pignatta

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  1. Juan A. Acero
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  2. Elliot J. Y. Koh
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  4. Lea A. Ruefenacht
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  5. Gloria Pignatta
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Correspondence to Juan A. Acero.

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Acero, J.A., Koh, E.J.Y., Li, X. et al. Thermal impact of the orientation and height of vertical greenery on pedestrians in a tropical area. Build. Simul. 12, 973–984 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-019-0537-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-019-0537-1

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