Toward sustainable urban design
Subtitle: the impact of urban geometry on the energy consumption of buildings.
Published: 2005
Language: eng
Number of pages: 136
Description: The energy intensity of the built environment is a function of the prevalent urban form, which can be conceptualized in terms of urban canyon geometry. The urban canyon energy balance is affected by its geometry, orientation, construction materials, vegetation, local climate and anthropogenic energy input. A surface energy model is developed and applied to a modified urban canyon to isolate the effects of canyon geometry on building energy consumption. Variations in surface temperatures and heat fluxes are examined over canyon aspect ratios from 0.05 to 5.00 for summer and winter conditions. Surface temperatures decrease with increased H/W ratio for both seasonal scenarios corresponding to increased heating and decreased cooling loads. Results show that long-wave radiation is sensitive to view factor geometry between H/W ratios of 0.05 and 1.50 and short-wave radiation is sensitive to shading. This research demonstrates the importance of canyon geometry to energy conservation through urban design.
Notes: Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 44-02, page: 0972.

Thesis (M.A.Sc.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

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