Impact of Urban Canyon Direction on Solar Radiation and Airflow in Hot and Humid Regions

Abstract

Urban configuration modification is an efficient approach to mitigating Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. This study investigates the significant impact of urban canyon direction on solar radiation and airflow which influences microclimate and thermal comfort. The Envi-met (V3.1 beta) simulation indicates that East-West Canyon received the worst level of air temperature and meant radiant temperature compared to when the canyon was directed perpendiculars to the wind direction (South East – North West). The finding scientifically demonstrates that in Kuala Lumpur context, with the weak influences of urban wind, solar radiation plays the significant impact on the microclimate.Keywords: Solar radiation; airflow; urban canyon, urban simulation.eISSN 2398-4295 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21834/ajbes.v3i13.146