IMPACT OF URBAN THERMAL ENVIRONMENT ON BUILDING ENERGY PERFORMANCE, A PARAMETRIC STUDY

Abstract

Almost 4000 million people now resides in urban areas which is equal to almost 50% of the world’s population. The UN estimates in 2007 the number of people living in urban areas exceeded the population living in rural areas for the first time in history. By 2050 it’s projected that more than 7000 million people of world will live in urban areas that will be 2/3 of the global population (Hannah, 2018). People are continuing to migrate to urban from rural areas. Many factors play a role in this migration and better job opportunities and better living conditions being at the top. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction and this concentration of population in urban areas has this too. This modified version of lifestyle in urban areas is very energy guzzling. I will validate this statement with the help of some fact and figures. For example per person average annual domestic electricity consumption in 2009 was 96 kilo watt hours (KWH) in rural areas and 288 KWH in urban areas. That is exactly the three times of the consumption in rural areas. People in urban areas are consuming more energy than the people in suburban areas. Generally urban areas are in very problematic situation, it seems that the urban areas are stuck in a closed loop. Urban people are consuming more energy and due to this consumption the overall temperature of urban areas increases. This increased temperature leads to higher energy demands and ultimately results in higher carbon emission. (Iain Douglas Stewart & Oke, 2012) described that the temperature in urban settings is higher than its surrounding countryside and this phenomena is known as urban heat island. The temperature difference between two typologies of local climate zones is known as the magnitude of UHI (urban heat island). (Rizwan et al., 2008) explained in their research that UHI depends on anthropogenic heat, land cover and ventilation.