Development of support tool for outdoor thermal environmental design of urban/building using numerical analysis

The purpose of this study is to develop a thermal design tool for architectural designer by combining a heat balance simulation for urban surfaces, including buildings, the ground and greenery, with a 3D-CAD. This tool is constructed by improving the previous simulation model, which uses the Geographic Information System for the input data. The simulation algorithm is improved so as to predict the surface temperature distribution of urban blocks while taking into account the actual design of the outdoor space using the 3D-CAD system. A pre-post processing system using all-purpose 3D-CAD software is developed. The results obtained by applying this simulation tool to an area of detached houses reveals that the tool is able to simulate the effects of building shape, materials, and tree shade on the surface temperature distribution, as well as the MRT and HIP, which are evaluation indexes of the urban thermal environment.