Urban micro climate: analysis for city and building planning

As the urban heat island is not a homogenous factor the microclimate conditions play an important role also for single buildings and the situation inside. For a better consideration of this aspect in the planning process, qualitative and especially quantitative assessment tools are required. To get a better knowledge about the quantitative dimension of urban climates investigations on thermal comfort in outdoor and indoor spaces are carried out in selected city quarters in the city of Kassel in Germany. These studies consist of experimental investigations including field interviews about usage of urban open spaces and thermal sensation and numerical simulations on thermal comfort under recent as well as future regional climate conditions. The added-value of the interdisciplinary research project is based on the correlation of findings from human-biometeorology with the outcomes from sociologic questionnaires and building physics, which will be used to plan and design structures in a high spatial resolution. The thermal conditions outside continue inside the building, a combination of internal and external climate considerations must be made. The aim of a research at the University of Kassel is the examination and presentation of different microclimate and its influence on the thermal behavior of buildings.