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Parametric Urbanism in Optimising Outdoor Thermal Comfort of Urban Spaces

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Engineering Solutions Toward Sustainable Development (IWBBIO 2023)

Part of the book series: Earth and Environmental Sciences Library ((EESL))

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Abstract

In the last decades, parametric design has developed greatly, and its goals have expanded to include environmental, social and other goals. Due to the urban expansion that Egypt is currently witnessing; besides climate change, this research aims to use parametric urbanism in optimizing outdoor thermal comfort for urban spaces located in hot arid climates. To achieve this aim, simulation methodology was used to assess outdoor thermal comfort and deduce the most important factors affecting it in the hot arid climate. The simulation was conducted on 120 different cases of a hypothetical urban space using ladybug tools. It was found that outdoor thermal comfort can be greatly optimized by decreasing sky view factor, and increasing the floor area ratio. It was also found that the surrounding urban context has an important role in influencing the outdoor thermal comfort. Lastly, the simulation concluded that the eastern and western sides have a significant impact on the outdoor thermal comfort in the summer, in contrast to the northern and southern sides, which have little effect.

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Abbreviations

OTC:

Outdoor thermal comfort

MRT:

Mean radiant temperature

SVF:

Sky view factor

FAR:

Floor area ratio

BCR:

Building coverage ratio

PMV:

The predict mean vote index

PET:

The physiological equivalent temperature index

UTCI:

The universal thermal climate index

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Credit Authorship Contribution Statement

Maram W. Rezk: Generating the idea, Collecting data, Methodology, Original draft preparation and Editing.

Ashraf A. Almokadem: Reviewing and Supervision.

Nancy M. Badawy: Editing, Reviewing and Supervision.

Heba A. Ahmed: Editing, Reviewing and Supervision.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Architectural Engineering and Urban Planning Department, Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, Port Said, Egypt

    Maram Waleed Rezk, Ashraf Elmokadem, Nancy Badawy & Heba Adel

Authors
  1. Maram Waleed Rezk
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  2. Ashraf Elmokadem
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  3. Nancy Badawy
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  4. Heba Adel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maram Waleed Rezk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Water and Water Structures Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Abdelazim M. Negm

  2. Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, Port Fouad, Egypt

    Rawya Y. Rizk

  3. Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, Port Fouad, Egypt

    Rehab F. Abdel-Kader

  4. Faculty of Engineering, Port Said University, Port Fouad, Egypt

    Asmaa Ahmed

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© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Cite this paper

Rezk, M.W., Elmokadem, A., Badawy, N., Adel, H. (2024). Parametric Urbanism in Optimising Outdoor Thermal Comfort of Urban Spaces. In: Negm, A.M., Rizk, R.Y., Abdel-Kader, R.F., Ahmed, A. (eds) Engineering Solutions Toward Sustainable Development. IWBBIO 2023. Earth and Environmental Sciences Library. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-46491-1_24

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