An Integrated Model for Urban Microclimate and Building Energy in High-Density Cities for Early Stage Design

Abstract

The energy performance of an urban building depends on its surroundings. Existing building energy models are limited in accounting for micro-scale variations of the surrounding environment, which may significantly modify building energy performance in high-density cities. Modeling of building energy at urban scale remains a nascent field. This paper presents an integrated urban microclimate (UMM) and building energy model (HTB2), which has been developed to assess the energy performance of a cluster of buildings and their external environments in high-density cities. The simulation results were evaluated by comparison with field measurement data collected from the Sai Ying Pun neighbourhood in Hong Kong. The model has potentials to support building design and urban planning at early stage.