Numerical studies of the outdoor wind environment and thermal comfort at pedestrian level in housing blocks with different building layout patterns and trees arrangement

Alleviating the urban heat-island effect (UHI) is one of the important means to meet energy conservation and pollution reduction targets by demand side. Rational architectural layout and landscape design are significant measures to achieve building energy efficiency and sustainable building. In this study, the effects of building layout patterns and trees arrangement on the outdoor wind environment and thermal comfort at the pedestrian level were investigated by using Simulation Platform for Outdoor Thermal Environment (SPOTE). The conclusions were summarized as follows: 1) it has been found that trees arrangement, buildings layout patterns and their orientations with respect to wind have significant effects on the outdoor wind environment and pedestrian level thermal comfort. The long facades of building, which are parallel to the prevailing wind direction, can accelerate horizontal vortex airflow at the edges and obtain pleasant thermal comfort and wind environment at pedestrian level. 2) Configurations that contain a square central space articulated by buildings and oriented toward the prevailing wind can offer better exposure to air currents as a result of attenuated revised standard effective temperature (SET*). Such configurations are regarded as the optimum building layout patterns and trees arrangement.