Microclimate modelling solution

This solution was sourced in response to UKGBC’s Innovation Challenge: “How can communities and local authorities implement, maintain, and assess the impact of nature-based solutions to enhance climate resilience?”

Urban landscapes are one of the most heterogenous environmental systems one can find. The mixture of man-made materials, building cubature and infrastructural elements on the one side but also the presence of road side vegetation, urban parks and linkages to the rural surroundings generate a highly specific microclimate known as the urban climate. Overheating of the outdoor environment, poor air quality and heat storage in buildings are the most dominant challenges for architects and urban planners when designing this environment. These challenges will become even more urgent in the face of global climate change and associated heat waves.

Nature-based solutions (NBS) offer a low-energy approach to improve outdoor microclimate conditions. As these conditions are also the embedding climate framework for all existing and planned buildings, an improvement of the urban microclimate will also lead to improved building energy performance. However, NBS often include living organisms such as vegetation. The performance – and the sustainability in terms of vitality – of these solutions highly depend on the exact location inside the complex urban environment. The three-dimensional microclimate simulation model ENVI-met allows users to design, simulate and analyse the impact of different NBS on the urban microclimate for any urban setting for any climate zone around the globe.