Urban form study for wind potential development

Wind energy development is helpful for realizing a green city. This work concentrates on the study of estimating urban wind energy with consideration of urban morphology. Fourteen typical urban forms in Beijing city were selected and analyzed with nine relevant urban morphology parameters. Computational fluid dynamics numerical simulations were used to evaluate the wind energy potential of the urban forms. This work demonstrates that urban forms with higher plot ratio and mean aspect ratio usually have higher wind potential density by site area, an important indicator for neighborhood-scale wind potential development. Urban forms with higher average building height would have higher wind potential density by roof area, an important indicator for building-scale wind potential development. To promote wind potential over roofs, a layout of 45 degrees of building configuration with inlet wind direction and building forms with round-angle corners are suggested. Local wind distribution is important for wind energy evaluation of individual buildings and wind energy distribution over different directions; however, it has a substantially lesser effect on the general wind potential comparison among urban forms with different urban characteristics.

Automated summary

The development of wind energy in urban areas is influenced by urban morphology parameters such as plot ratio and average building height. To enhance wind energy potential on rooftops, a specific building layout and design are suggested.