Urban overheating impact: A case study on building energy performance

Abstract

It is well known that the construction sector is one of the main sectors responsible for energy consumption in the current global energy scenario. Thus, buildings’ energy software become essential tools for achieving energy savings. Climate and its implications for building energy performance are a critical threat. Hence, the aim of this study is to evaluate the climatic conditions in urban and suburban areas of Rome, estimating the incidence of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon. To this end, meteorological data obtained from three different areas (two airports and one inside the city) were examined and compared. Then, TRNSYS software was used to create a simple building, in order to assess the impacts of various climatic situations on building energy performance. The study revealed significant percentage differences both in terms of energy needs for heating, from −20.1% to −24.9% when the reference stations are, respectively, Fiumicino and Ciampino, and for cooling, with a wider range, from +48.7% to +87.5% when the reference stations are Ciampino and Fiumicino. Therefore, the study showed the importance of more accurately selecting sets of climate values to be included in energy simulations.