Cultural Heritage & Built Environment Scoping Report

This report presents the findings of a scoping study that explores engagement between a heritage institution and its local community. The report addresses this topic by considering the opportunities and limitations of urban screens to form new audiences for heritage institutions; specifically through a case study of the BBC Big Screens. Literature suggests that urban screens have the potential to form new types of audiences for heritage institutions yet processes for achieving this are rarely described. This report proposes that understanding these processes may help address issues of measuring engagement associated with urban screens and contribute to assessing the value of urban screens for communities and heritage institutions. Key themes of participation, site and value are explored through a literature review. These themes are then used to structure the analysis and discussion of the case study. Further questions for future study are described

Intramedullary thoracic spinal metastasis from small-cell lung cancer

Intramedullary thoracic spinal metastasis from small-cell lung cancer. S. Katsenos, M. Nikolopoulou. Lung cancer with intramedullary spinal cord metastasis (ISCM) is a rare event exhibiting dismal prognosis. In the present paper, we describe a 74-year-old male who developed bilateral leg weakness with associated backache and non-productive cough. Chest imaging evaluation demonstrated pronounced bilateral mediastinal lymphadenopathy and a nodular opacity in the right lower lobe. The patient was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer through bronchoscopic procedures. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spinal cord with contrast-enhancement revealed an intramedullary lesion consistent with metastasis at the T5-T6 level. Despite chemotherapy and thoracic spine radiotherapy, he eventually succumbed to the disease 3 months after diagnosis. A brief overview of the current literature is also provided laying emphasis on the therapeutic strategies of this unusual extrathoracic metastatic disease

Engrained experience—a comparison of microclimate perception schemata and microclimate measurements in Dutch urban squares

Acceptance of public spaces is often guided by perceptual schemata. Such schemata also seem to play a role in thermal comfort and microclimate experience. For climate-responsive design with a focus on thermal comfort it is important to acquire knowledge about these schemata. For this purpose, perceived and “real” microclimate situations were compared for three Dutch urban squares. People were asked about their long-term microclimate perceptions, which resulted in “cognitive microclimate maps”. These were compared with mapped microclimate data from measurements representing the common microclimate when people stay outdoors. The comparison revealed some unexpected low matches; people clearly overestimated the influence of the wind. Therefore, a second assumption was developed: that it is the more salient wind situations that become engrained in people’s memory. A comparison using measurement data from windy days shows better matches. This suggests that these more salient situations play a role in the microclimate schemata that people develop about urban places. The consequences from this study for urban design are twofold. Firstly, urban design should address not only the “real” problems, but, more prominently, the “perceived” problems. Secondly, microclimate simulations addressing thermal comfort issues in urban spaces should focus on these perceived, salient situations

Impact of urban albedo on microclimate: Computational investigation in London

The urban albedo (UA), defined as the ratio of the reflected to the incoming shortwave radiation at the upper edge of urban canyons, quantifies their ability to reflect solar radiation towards the sky. This research investigates the impact of real-world urban geometries and optical properties of facades and roads materials on the UA and street level microclimate in London. The Indexed Sphere (IVS) algorithm of ENVI-met 4.4.4 is used to compute the UA of several canyon configurations. The accuracy of the IVS algorithm is evaluated against measurements on a 1:10 physical model reproducing the geometry and materials of the case study area. The simulation results show that reflective materials applied to the canyon surfaces are more effective in increasing the UA of canyons with low aspect ratios. The use of reflective materials in urban canyons always increases the amount of reflections at the street level, increasing the mean radiant temperature in most cases. Air temperature is not affected by the canyon’s façades reflectivity while it shows a significant daytime reduction for increased roads’ reflectivity. The results provide preliminary guidelines for the control of UA and the improvement of microclimate in London.EPSRC UK under the project ‘Urban albedo computation in high latitude locations: An experimental approach’ (EP/P02517X/1).https://www.conftool.org/plea2020/index.php/SC-5-4-Impact_Of_Urban_Albedo_On_Microclimate_Salvati_1751_b.pdf?page=downloadPaper&filename=SC-5-4-Impact_Of_Urban_Albedo_On_Microclimate_Salvati_1751_b.pdf&form_id=1751&form_index=2&form_version=fina

Impact of reflective materials on urban canyon albedo, outdoor and indoor microclimates

The urban canyon albedo (UCA) quantifies the ability of street canyons to reflect solar radiation back to the sky. The UCA is controlled by the solar reflectance of road and façades and the street geometry. This study investigates the variability of UCA in a typical residential area of London and its impact on outdoor and indoor microclimates. The results are based on radiation measurements in real urban canyons and on a 1:10 physical model and simulations using ENVImet v 4.4.6 and EnergyPlus. Different scenarios with increased solar reflectance of roads and façades were simulated to investigate the impact on UCA and street level microclimate. The results showed that increasing the road reflectance has high absolute and relative impact on UCA in wide canyons. In deeper canyons, the absolute impact of the road reflectance is reduced while the relative impact of the walls' reflectance is increased. Results also showed that increasing surface reflectance in urban canyons has a detrimental impact on outdoor thermal comfort, due to increased interreflections between surfaces leading to higher mean radiant temperatures. Increasing the road reflectance also increases the incident diffuse radiation on adjacent buildings, producing a small increase in indoor operative temperatures. The findings were used to discuss the best design strategies to improve the urban thermal environment by using reflective materials in urban canyons without compromising outdoor thermal comfort or indoor thermal environments.This work was funded by EPSRC UK under the project ‘Urban albedo computation in high latitude locations: An experimental approach’ (EP/ P02517X/1)

Conforto térmico em espaços públicos de passagem: estudos em ruas de pedestres no estado de São Paulo

Este artigo apresenta resultados de um estudo sobre conforto térmico em espaços públicos de passagem, em ruas de pedestres nas cidades de Campinas, Bauru e Presidente Prudente, no Estado de São Paulo. O estudo foi desenvolvido dentro de uma pesquisa mais ampla sobre o conforto térmico em diferentes tipos de espaços urbanos abertos, nas mesmas cidades. A metodologia empregada envolveu o monitoramento microclimático (temperatura, temperatura de globo, umidade relativa do ar, velocidade do ar e radiação solar global), em diferentes condições de tempo, e entrevistas estruturadas, para identificar a sensação térmica e as variáveis pessoais dos usuários. A análise dos resultados permitiu identificar diferenças entre a sensação térmica real (ASV) e o conforto calculado pela temperatura fisiológica equivalente (PET). Os limites de conforto térmico variaram entre as cidades: 20-29 ºC para Campinas, 21-30 ºC para Bauru, e 14-24 ºC para Presidente Prudente. Entretanto, a sensação de neutralidade térmica para 59,5% do total da amostra (308 de 519 indivíduos) foi de 18 a 26 ºC. Esses resultados são compatíveis com os limites propostos por Monteiro e Alucci (2007) para a cidade de São Paulo e podem contribuir como parâmetro de avaliação da qualidade térmica de outros espaços públicos de passagem nas mesmas cidades