Spacemaker, an Autodesk company, has developed an intuitive tool for analyzing microclimates. Thanks to the software, planners can generate and visualize data on thermal conditions – an important step in developing solutions that will mitigate climate change.
The analysis of microclimates
With Spacemaker, the US software company Autodesk offers a way to carry out microclimate analyses. This first tool of its kind makes it possible to display and visualize urban heat islands. This allows planning and design experts to evaluate the thermal conditions in outdoor areas, identify problematic issues and simulate possible solutions. Thanks to the simulation, changes can be made cost-effectively before the microclimate is actually designed.
The Spacemaker software is part of Spacemaker’s real-time analytics. Users can use the analyses to test how their designs for buildings and street factors are influenced by environmental factors such as noise, wind and daylight. They can also see, for example, how the shadows and positions of the planned buildings cause air locks.
Spacemaker shows how a particular design would affect the microclimate. Few green spaces, for example, lead to the warning that this could increase the ambient temperature and worsen the air quality. Dark roofs and materials such as asphalt and concrete absorb and store heat, which is usually undesirable.
Spacemaker distinguishes between rural areas, suburbs, commercial areas, the outskirts of cities, parkland, farmland and the city center. The latter is particularly affected by urban heat stress.
Urban heat islands
The phenomenon of “urban heat islands” is part of the urban climate. According to the World Meterological Organization, the urban climate is characterized as a “local climate that has been altered by buildings and emissions compared to the surrounding area”. Parameters such as air temperature, humidity, radiation, wind, air quality and noise are different in the city.
Urban heat islands, as simulated by Spacemaker, are also typical. They are caused by the temperature difference between the warmer city and the cooler surrounding countryside. In cloudless, windless weather conditions, a microclimate forms with a difference of several degrees Celsius in some cases. One of the reasons for this is that the air temperature in cities depends on the geometry of the building, the thermal properties of the building fabric, the properties of the surfaces and the release of heat such as house fires, traffic and industry.
As a result of this microclimate, city dwellers experience a higher risk of heat stress, especially in the warmer months. This increased heat stress is a major challenge, especially for the elderly, sick people and young children. The increased use of cooling systems and air conditioning also leads to increased energy consumption. This has a negative impact on the environment and increases individual household costs.
In Berlin, temperature differences of up to 10 degrees between the densely built-up Alexanderplatz and the surrounding area have already been observed on hot summer nights. This is a serious health risk – moreover, the number of hot days per year is expected to double in the coming years due to global warming.
Sustainable solutions for habitable cities
Urban heat islands are a major challenge worldwide. They often have a negative impact on quality of life and require adapted architecture. This makes it all the more important to take appropriate steps to mitigate the problem. Architects, urban planners and real estate developers are called upon to develop sustainable solutions. These should help to ensure that cities are habitable all year round.
“Thermal conditions and the built environment are two sides of the same coin, as wind and sun conditions at a location are strongly influenced by fundamental decisions about building layouts and shapes. Unfortunately, in most cases, thermal comfort is not considered until it is too late, rendering important building blocks of a city’s overall sustainability strategy ineffective,” says Håvard Haukeland, co-founder of Spacemaker and senior director of Autodesk, according to the architecture newspaper. “Planning and design teams are then forced to tackle complex problems on a large scale with small but costly renovations and improvements. This can often result in major delays.”
“Microclimate analysis gives planners the right tools to make smarter, data-driven decisions from day one. This leads to solutions that mitigate the effects of climate change by ensuring optimal living conditions while increasing the resilience of cities,” adds Håvard Haukeland.
How Spacemaker’s microclimate analysis works
There are already methods for calculating the urban heat island effect. However, these are often only accessible to experts and do not visualize the data. Spacemaker’s microclimate analysis, on the other hand, is fast and very clear. The entire planning team should be able to gain insight into the effects of certain planning decisions. Any problems with the thermal conditions can be quickly identified and effectively resolved.
Spacemaker also allows the modeling of extremes such as hot summer days. The result of changes to the design is adjusted on a heat map in real time. A comfort frequency map shows which temperatures are perceived as comfortable by users in which time frame. This shows when and for how long it is still comfortable to be outdoors. This makes it possible to make result-oriented design decisions with the help of Spacemaker.
The Spacemaker software team spent two years studying thermal stress and temperature perception in order to develop the new tool. The resulting microclimate analysis is based on the Universal Thermal Climate Index, which is an important source of information for climate research. You can find out more about Spacemaker on their website.
Also interesting: In Zurich, a cloud of fog above Turbinenplatz is intended to cool the urban space. Read here to find out how and whether it works.
