In his introduction to this detailed survey of knowledge of insect societies, the author points out that research on insect sociology has proceeded in three phases, the natural history phase, the physiological phase and the population-biology phase. Advances in the first two phases have permitted embarkation in the third phase on a more rigorous theory of social evolution based on population genetics and writing this book, the author wished to relate the three phases of research on insects and to express insect sociology as population biology. A glossary of terms, a considerable bibliography and a general index are included. Other CABI sites 

The Insect Societies

The urban heat island effect, its causes, and mitigation, with reference to the thermal properties of asphalt concrete.

‘Local climate zones’ (LCZs) comprise a new and systematic classification of field sites for heat island studies. The classification divides urban and rural landscapes into 17 standard classes, each defined by structural and land cover properties that influence air temperature at screen height. This study is the first to evaluate the conceptual division of LCZs with temperature observations and simulation results from surface–atmosphere models. Results confirm that thermal contrasts exist among all LCZ classes, and that such contrasts are governed largely by building height and spacing, pervious surface fraction, tree density, and soil wetness. Therefore, partitioning of landscapes into structural and land cover classes, or ‘LCZs,’ is deemed justified for the purposes of field site classification in heat island studies. Also justified is the use of inter-zone temperature difference (ΔTLCZ X−Y) to quantify heat island magnitude. To further improve the LCZ system, we encourage other researchers to observe and model the climatic conditions of its varied classes. Especially useful would be tests using field data from different urban and rural environments to those in this study, and running more advanced urban canopy models with demonstrated predictive capability.

Evaluation of the ‘local climate zone’ scheme using temperature observations and model simulations

Conventional impervious pavements have dark surface and large thermal inertia. During summertime they tend to absorb and store solar radiation but negate the evaporative cooling, contributing to the development of urban heat island (UHI). The idea of using cool pavements to mitigate the UHI has gained momentum recently. This review synthesizes the existing definition, physical mechanism, and typical cooling techniques of cool pavements, presenting the influence of cool pavements on the urban thermal environment. Benefits, penalties, costs and policies for the applications of cool pavements are presented with special emphasis on reflective pavements and evaporative pavements. The review suggests that the definition of cool pavements remain incomplete; that the influence of cool pavements on the air temperature in the urban canopy layer is unknown; and that the impact of cool pavements on the thermal conditions of adjacent buildings and pedestrians remains unknown. Many speculations of using cool pavements to battle the UHI effect need refinements and validations. Heat-harvesting pavements seem interesting because they not only stay cool but harness renewable energy. However, the results from the heat-harvesting pavement prototype require scrutiny on the power output, durability, and lifetime of the pavement system. Future studies are expected to understanding the impacts of cool pavements on pedestrian thermal stress, on adjacent building’s energy loads, and on the air temperature in the urban canopy layer.

A review on the development of cool pavements to mitigate urban heat island effect

Urban microclimate studies are gaining popularity due to rapid urbanization. Many studies documented that urban microclimate can affect building energy performance, human morbidity and mortality and thermal comfort. Historically, urban microclimate studies were conducted with observational methods such as field measurements. In the last decades, with the advances in computational resources, numerical simulation approaches have become increasingly popular. Nowadays, especially simulations with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is frequently used to assess urban microclimate. CFD can resolve the transfer of heat and mass and their interaction with individual obstacles such as buildings. Considering the rapid increase in CFD studies of urban microclimate, this paper provides a review of research reported in journal publications on this topic till the end of 2015. The studies are categorized based on the following characteristics: morphology of the urban area (generic versus real) and methodology (with or without validation study). In addition, the studies are categorized by specifying the considered urban settings/locations, simulation equations and models, target parameters and keywords. This review documents the increasing popularity of the research area over the years. Based on the data obtained concerning the urban location, target parameters and keywords, the historical development of the studies is discussed and future perspectives are provided. According to the results, early CFD microclimate studies were conducted for model development and later studies considered CFD approach as a predictive methodology. Later, with the established simulation setups, research efforts shifted to case studies. Recently, an increasing amount of studies focus on urban scale adaptation measures. The review hints a possible change in this trend as the results from CFD simulations can be linked up with different aspects (e.g. economy) and with different scales (e.g. buildings), and thus, CFD can play an important role in transferring urban climate knowledge into engineering and design practice.

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A review on the CFD analysis of urban microclimate

Optimization of building energy use in an urban area requires understanding of the complex interaction between urban morphology, materials, and climate, which can have unanticipated effects on urban microclimates and building energy use. Reflective pavements reduce urban air temperatures and have been proposed as a mitigation measure for urban heat islands. However, the increased solar reflectivity also transports more solar radiation into (through windows) and onto adjacent buildings possibly increasing building energy use. The effect of albedo changes in the urban canopy floor surface on building thermal loads is investigated using the Temperature of Urban Facets Indoor-Outdoor Building Energy Simulator (TUF-IOBES). A case study for a four storey office building with 1820 m 2 floor area and 47% window to wall ratio in Phoenix, Arizona was conducted. Increasing pavement solar reflectivity from 0.1 to 0.5 increased annual cooling loads up to 11% (33.1 kWh m −2 ). The impacts on annual heating loads and canopy air temperatures were small. The confounding impacts of canopy aspect ratio, building insulation conditions reflective of building age, and window type and size were also quantified. Policymakers should carefully weigh the benefits and local energy use implications of reflective pavements for each site to ensure their optimal application.

Effect of reflective pavements on building energy use

The effects of artificial turf (AT) on the urban canopy layer energy balance, air and surface temperatures, and building cooling loads are compared to those of other common ground surface materials (asphalt, concrete, and grass) through heat transfer modeling of radiation, convection, and conduction. The authors apply the Temperatures of Urban Facets in 3D (TUF3D) model—modified to account for latent heat fluxes—to a clear summer day at a latitude of 33° over a typical coastal suburban area in Southern California. The low albedo of artificial turf relative to the other materials under investigation results in a reduction in shortwave radiation incident on nearby building walls and an approximately equal increase in longwave radiation. Consequently, building walls remain at a relatively cool temperature that is similar to those that are adjacent to irrigated grass surfaces. Using a simple offline convection model, replacing grass ground cover with artificial turf was found to add 2.3 kW h m−2 day−...

/pdf/modeling-the-thermal-effects-of-artificial-turf-on-the-urban-on7fvdhqzf.pdf

Modeling the Thermal Effects of Artificial Turf on the Urban Environment

Influence of plant coverage on the total green roof energy balance and building energy consumption

https://escholarship.org/content/qt4641g31t/qt4641g31t.pdf?t=mzjgpx

Neda Yaghoobian

Papers

Effect of reflective pavements on building energy use

Modeling the Thermal Effects of Artificial Turf on the Urban Environment

Influence of plant coverage on the total green roof energy balance and building energy consumption

An indoor–outdoor building energy simulator to study urban modification effects on building energy use – Model description and validation

An Indoor-Outdoor Building Energy Simulator to Study Urban Modification effects on Building Energy Use