Tomographic Environmental Sections for Environmental Mitigation Devices in Historical Centers

Roberta Cocci Grifoni, Maria Federica Ottone and Enrico Prenna
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Roberta Cocci Grifoni: SAD—School of Architecture and Design “Eduardo Vittoria”, University of Camerino, Viale della Rimembranza, 63100 Ascoli Piceno, Italy
Maria Federica Ottone: SAD—School of Architecture and Design “Eduardo Vittoria”, University of Camerino, Viale della Rimembranza, 63100 Ascoli Piceno, Italy
Enrico Prenna: SAD—School of Architecture and Design “Eduardo Vittoria”, University of Camerino, Viale della Rimembranza, 63100 Ascoli Piceno, Italy

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: Urban heat waves and the overall growing trend in the annual global temperature underline the importance of urban/architectural resilience and the need to reduce energy consumption. By designing urban voids, it is possible to create thermodynamic buffers, i.e., bubbles of controlled atmosphere that act as mediators between the natural and built environments, between the human body and the surrounding air, between meteorology and physiology (meteorological architecture). Multiple small actions in the urban fabric’s open spaces, such as replacing dark pavements or inserting vegetation and green spaces, are intended to improve outdoor comfort conditions and therefore the resilience of the city itself. This not only benefits the place’s quality, which is intrinsic to the new project, but also the insulating capacity of buildings, which are relieved of an external heat load. The design emphasis therefore changes from solid structures to the climate and weather conditions, which are invisible but perceivable. To design and control these constructed atmopheres, tomographic sections processed with computational fluid dynamics software (tomographic environmental section, TENS) becomes necessary. It allows the effects of an extreme event on an outdoor environment to be evaluated in order to establish the appropriate (adaptive) climate mitigation devices, especially in historical centers where energy retrofits are often discouraged. By fixing boundary conditions after a local intervention, the virtual environment can be simulated and then "sliced" to analyze initial values and verify the design improvements.

Keywords: tomographic environmental section (TENS) method; global warming; heat waves; urban acupuncture; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); outdoor comfort (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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