Objectives of the service
Minimizing the urban heat island effect offers a major opportunity to reduce carbon emissions from the construction industry. With the impact of climate change, cooling warming cities with current technology could produce up to 60 percent more carbon emissions than heating by 2050. Urban heat island intensity in Europe varies between 1-16°C, with higher intensity in the summer and in cities with warmer climates. In Budapest, for example, a heat island can increase temperatures by up to 6°C. This has a significant impact on the heating and cooling demand of buildings and it increases the consumption associated with cooling to a greater extent
Paulinyi & Partners looks to solve this problem with HeatScape Resolve, a service which will be based on data from the joint project with ESA. This solution will provide designers with a problem map, help in analysis of plans to mitigate urban heat island effects and aid in tracking results. The service will be complementary to the energy simulation models used to improve the energy efficiency of buildings and city districts and increase the value of investments.
Users and their needs
HeatScape Resolve is useful to real - estate developers and municipalities planning large scale (>5 ha) development projects.
Developers can
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assess the current urban heat island effect at their site
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create future scenarios for the microclimate of their development
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use the metrics gained in their ESG, grenn building and sustainability reportings
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aim to reduce energy consumption of cooling by reducing outdoor temperatures
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get the effective amount of greenery needed for climatic improvement of their project
Municipalities can
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improve inhabitants comfort
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ascertain that a development is microclimatically sound
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get the effective amount of greenery needed for climatic improvement of their city
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sustainable city project metrics
Service/ system concept
Describe in less than 200 words the capability or information supplied to the user, i.e. type of information that is delivered, specific features or functionalities, the capability the user will have when the service is deployed.
Also explain how the system works in simple terms (no jargon) for a wide audience. Explain the system architecture (on a high level). A simple diagram may be included but make sure it looks good. Don’t use serif fonts or font sizes which are too small to be readable.
HeatScape Resolve is intended to supply two main output categories:
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“Current state UHI” – current UHI and microclimate conditions of the to-be-developed area
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“Predictive UHI” – the simulated change in UHI and microclimate conditions according to development scenarios
The exact output types are under investigation;
considered are:
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UHI intensity
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cooling load change for buildings
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UTCI and other outdoor comfort indices
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effective greenery index
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GHG change index
Space Added Value
Evaluation of exact space assets to be used is underway, Sentinel and PLanetScope being strongly considered. The criteria are a high enough resolution in the required index composites (which are being evaluated at this time) usable for UHI evaluation on the desired scale of 300x300m and good input attribute availability for the predictive UHI and microclimate simulations, such as existing albedo and greenery etc.
Current Status
The project is focused on creating the adequate composite data for the service to work; automated 3d urban model composite for the predictive simulation, and the correct EO composite index evaluation are underway.
User requirement gathering by means of market research is being undertaken currently.
