An Extensive Study of the Urban Heat Island Phenomenon in Rome, Italy: Implications for Building Energy Performance Through Data from Multiple Meteorological Stations

Abstract

Urban areas can be characterized by higher outdoor air temperatures than rural ones due to the well-known Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon. This significantly affects buildings energy performance, thus influencing energy needs in terms of cooling and heating. Starting from this, the UHI in Rome was here investigated, providing an updated estimation through 2022 climate data. The influence of the UHI on energy efficiency in buildings has been highlighted by applying climatic data logged by different weather stations within a dynamic simulation tool. Thus, actual climate data have been used as thermal boundary conditions to simulate typical building energy needs, for cooling and heating. The findings of this study demonstrate a notable disparity in climatic conditions between the areas outside the city and the urban context. The maximum values of UHI intensities for daytime and night-time were identified as 3.1℃ and 3.5℃, respectively. Moreover, the accurate selection of reference data is a crucial factor for obtaining reliable information regarding the energy demands of buildings within the city. The findings emphasized that utilizing data from airport stations instead of weather stations within urban areas can result in disparities up to approximately -17% for heating and more than 50% for cooling requirements.