Leveraging green infrastructure to mitigate urban heat and energy consumption: a microscale perspective

Abstract

In today’s rapidly growing economy, urbanization is expanding quickly, transforming landscapes and increasing heat retention in urban areas. This increased urban heat drives a higher reliance on energy-intensive cooling systems, thus resulting in higher energy consumption. Green Infrastructure (GI) is a sustainable solution that offers cooling benefits. However, it also creates a wind barrier and raises relative humidity, which might adversely influence comfort. The present work aims to explore the impact of GI on urban microclimate and energy consumption in a prototypical urban block consisting of two closely spaced buildings modelled for the climate conditions in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was utilised to analyse the impact of different vegetation types on this area across four days representing each season. Further, a comprehensive energy analysis was performed. The findings indicate that implementing GI reduced annual energy consumption by 65–488 kWh for the scenarios studied. These savings don’t just benefit the environment but also help alleviate infrastructure distress by reducing the cooling load and easing demands on the energy grid.