Impact of building density on natural ventilation potential and cooling energy saving across Chinese climate zones

Natural ventilation is an energy-efficient approach to reduce the need for mechanical ventilation and air conditioning in buildings. However, traditionally weather data for building energy simulation are obtained from rural areas, which do not reflect the urban micrometeorological conditions. This study combines the Surface Urban Energy and Water Balance Scheme (SUEWS) and EnergyPlus to predict natural ventilation potential (NVP) and cooling energy saving in three idealised urban neighbourhoods with different urban densities in five Chinese cities of different climate zones. SUEWS downscales the meteorological inputs required by EnergyPlus, including air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed profiles. The findings indicate that NVP and cooling energy saving differences between urban and rural areas are climate-and season-dependent. During summer, the urban rural differences in natural ventilation hours are-43% to 10% (cf. rural) across all climates, while in spring/ autumn, they range from-7% to 36%. The study also suggests that single-sided ventilation can be as effective as cross ventilation for buildings in dense urban areas. Our findings highlight the importance of considering local or neighbourhood-scale climate when evaluating NVP. We demonstrate a method to enhance NVP prediction accuracy in urban regions using EnergyPlus, which can contribute to achieving low-carbon building design.

Automated summary

This study combines SUEWS and EnergyPlus to predict natural ventilation potential (NVP) and cooling energy saving in urban neighborhoods in five Chinese cities. The findings show that the differences in NVP and cooling energy saving between urban and rural areas are climate- and season-dependent, with single-sided ventilation being as effective as cross ventilation in dense urban areas. Considering local or neighborhood-scale climate is important when evaluating NVP.