Using cool paving materials to improve microclimate of urban areas e Design realization and results of the flisvos project

The present paper deals with the application of 4500 m2 of reflective pavements in an urban park in the greater Athens area. The aim was to improve thermal comfort conditions, reduce the intensity of heat island and improve the global environmental quality in the considered area. To our knowledge, this has been the largest application of cool pavements in urban areas in the world. To evaluate the thermal impact of cool paving materials, specific and detailed measurements of the climatic conditions in the park have been performed before and after the installation of the new materials. Validated computerized fluid dynamics techniques have been used to homogenize the boundary conditions occurring during the two experiments and to perform direct comparisons of the climatic quality in the park. It was estimated that the use of cool paving materials contributes to the reduction of the peak ambient temperature during a typical summer day, by up to 1.9 K. At the same time, the surface temperature in the park was decreased by 12 K, while comfort conditions have been improved considerably. It is concluded that the use of reflective paving materials is a very efficient mitigation technique to improve thermal conditions in urban area

From the Sum of Near-Zero Energy Buildings to the Whole of a Near-Zero Energy Housing Settlement: The Role of Communal Spaces in Performance-Driven Design

Almost a century ago Modernism challenged the structure of the city and reshaped its physical space in order to, amongst other things, accommodate new transportation infrastructure and road networks proclaiming the,nowadays much-debated ‘scientificated’ pursuit of efficiency for the city. This transformation has had a great impact on the way humans still design, move in, occupy and experience the city. Today major cities in Europe, such as Paris and London, are considering banning vehicles from their historic centers. In parallel, significant effort is currently underway internationally by designers, architects, and engineers to integrate innovative technologies and sophisticated solutions for energy production, management, and storage, as well as for efficient energy consumption, into the architecture of buildings. In general, this effort seeks for new technologies and design methods (e.g., DesignBuilder with EnergyPlus simulation engine; Rhicoceros3D with Grasshopper plugin and Ecotect, Radiance and EnergyPlus tools) that would enable a holistic approach to the spatial design of Near-Zero Energy buildings, so that their ecological benefits are an added value to the architectural design and a building’s visual, and material, impact on its surrounding space. The paper inquires how the integration of such technological infrastructure and performance-orientated interfaces changes yet again the structure and form of cities, and to what extent it safeguards social rights and enables equal access to common resources. Drawing from preliminary results and initial considerations of ongoing research that involve the construction of four innovative NZE settlements across Europe, in the context of the EU-funded ZERO-PLUS project, this paper discusses the integration of novel infrastructure in communal spaces of these settlements. In doing so, it contributes to the debate about smart communities and their role in the sustainable management of housing developments and settlements that are designed and developed with the concept of smart territories

Using cool paving materials to improve microclimate of urban areas - Design realization and results of the flisvos project

The present paper deals with the application of 4500 m 2 of reflective pavements in an urban park in the greater Athens area. The aim was to improve thermal comfort conditions, reduce the intensity of heat island and improve the global environmental quality in the considered area. To our knowledge, this has been the largest application of cool pavements in urban areas in the world. To evaluate the thermal impact of cool paving materials, specific and detailed measurements of the climatic conditions in the park have been performed before and after the installation of the new materials. Validated computerized fluid dynamics techniques have been used to homogenize the boundary conditions occurring during the two experiments and to perform direct comparisons of the climatic quality in the park. It was estimated that the use of cool paving materials contributes to the reduction of the peak ambient temperature during a typical summer day, by up to 1.9 K. At the same time, the surface temperature in the park was decreased by 12 K, while comfort conditions have been improved considerably. It is concluded that the use of reflective paving materials is a very efficient mitigation technique to improve thermal conditions in urban areas. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd