Impacts of Vertical Greenery on Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Carbon Emission Reduction at the Urban Scale in Turin, Italy
Urban heat islands (UHIs) increase urban warming and reduce outdoor thermal comfort due to changing surface characteristics and climate change. This study investigates the role of green walls (GWs) in mitigating UHI, improving outdoor thermal comfort, and reducing carbon emissions under current and...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/3/450 |
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| author | Amir Dehghan Lotfabad Seyed Morteza Hosseini Paolo Dabove Milad Heiranipour Francesco Sommese |
| author_facet | Amir Dehghan Lotfabad Seyed Morteza Hosseini Paolo Dabove Milad Heiranipour Francesco Sommese |
| author_sort | Amir Dehghan Lotfabad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urban heat islands (UHIs) increase urban warming and reduce outdoor thermal comfort due to changing surface characteristics and climate change. This study investigates the role of green walls (GWs) in mitigating UHI, improving outdoor thermal comfort, and reducing carbon emissions under current and future (2050) scenarios. Focusing on Via della Consolata, Turin, Italy, the study combines remote sensing for UHI detection and numerical simulations for thermal analysis during seasonal extremes. The results show that GWs slightly reduce air temperatures, with a maximum decrease of 1.6 °C in winter (2050), and have cooling effects on mean radiant temperature (up to 2.27 °C) during peak summer solar radiation. GWs also improve outdoor comfort, reducing the Universal Thermal Climate Index by 0.55 °C in the summer of 2050. The energy analysis shows that summer carbon emission intensity is reduced by 31%, despite winter heating demand increasing emissions by 45%. The study highlights the potential of GWs in urban climate adaptation, particularly in dense urban environments with low sky view factors. Seasonal optimization is crucial to balance cooling and heating energy demand. As cities face rising temperatures and heat waves, the integration of GWs offers a sustainable strategy to improve microclimate, reduce carbon emissions, and mitigate the effects of UHI. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a8b8ee193e574dce8173d44906cc4f00 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj-art-a8b8ee193e574dce8173d44906cc4f002025-08-20T02:12:38ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092025-01-0115345010.3390/buildings15030450Impacts of Vertical Greenery on Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Carbon Emission Reduction at the Urban Scale in Turin, ItalyAmir Dehghan Lotfabad0Seyed Morteza Hosseini1Paolo Dabove2Milad Heiranipour3Francesco Sommese4Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Architecture, Design & Media Technology, Aalborg University Copenhagen, A.C. Meyers Vænge 15, 2450 Copenhagen SV, DenmarkDepartment of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Energy, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Turin, ItalyDepartment of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, P.le Vincenzo Tecchio, 80, 80125 Naples, ItalyUrban heat islands (UHIs) increase urban warming and reduce outdoor thermal comfort due to changing surface characteristics and climate change. This study investigates the role of green walls (GWs) in mitigating UHI, improving outdoor thermal comfort, and reducing carbon emissions under current and future (2050) scenarios. Focusing on Via della Consolata, Turin, Italy, the study combines remote sensing for UHI detection and numerical simulations for thermal analysis during seasonal extremes. The results show that GWs slightly reduce air temperatures, with a maximum decrease of 1.6 °C in winter (2050), and have cooling effects on mean radiant temperature (up to 2.27 °C) during peak summer solar radiation. GWs also improve outdoor comfort, reducing the Universal Thermal Climate Index by 0.55 °C in the summer of 2050. The energy analysis shows that summer carbon emission intensity is reduced by 31%, despite winter heating demand increasing emissions by 45%. The study highlights the potential of GWs in urban climate adaptation, particularly in dense urban environments with low sky view factors. Seasonal optimization is crucial to balance cooling and heating energy demand. As cities face rising temperatures and heat waves, the integration of GWs offers a sustainable strategy to improve microclimate, reduce carbon emissions, and mitigate the effects of UHI.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/3/450air temperatureclimate changegreen wallmean radiant temperatureurban heat island |
| spellingShingle | Amir Dehghan Lotfabad Seyed Morteza Hosseini Paolo Dabove Milad Heiranipour Francesco Sommese Impacts of Vertical Greenery on Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Carbon Emission Reduction at the Urban Scale in Turin, Italy Buildings air temperature climate change green wall mean radiant temperature urban heat island |
| title | Impacts of Vertical Greenery on Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Carbon Emission Reduction at the Urban Scale in Turin, Italy |
| title_full | Impacts of Vertical Greenery on Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Carbon Emission Reduction at the Urban Scale in Turin, Italy |
| title_fullStr | Impacts of Vertical Greenery on Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Carbon Emission Reduction at the Urban Scale in Turin, Italy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of Vertical Greenery on Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Carbon Emission Reduction at the Urban Scale in Turin, Italy |
| title_short | Impacts of Vertical Greenery on Outdoor Thermal Comfort and Carbon Emission Reduction at the Urban Scale in Turin, Italy |
| title_sort | impacts of vertical greenery on outdoor thermal comfort and carbon emission reduction at the urban scale in turin italy |
| topic | air temperature climate change green wall mean radiant temperature urban heat island |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/3/450 |
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