A new method for detecting urban morphology effects on urban-scale air temperature and building energy consumption under mesoscale meteorological conditions

Impact of urban morphology on urban-scale building energy consumption under mesoscale climate has not been elucidated. A new model was developed to examine the impact using the mesoscale Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. For the first time, local climate zone and building categories (LCZBCs) are integrated into WRF, handling landuse/landcover and building configuration. The urban morphology parameters are clustered into three groups: urban structure, vegetation fraction, and impervious surface thermal properties. Our results show that urban structure induces a higher urban heat island (UHI) intensity at nighttime than does in daytime. The difference in urban-rural building/street structure is the key factor in compact and open high-rise areas, especially commercial-dominant ones, where the UHI intensity and AC load are increased by 40.33% and 34.52%, respectively. Besides, greenery is most effective to mitigate UHI problems, lessening AC demand in middle-rise and low-rise areas. Its benefit is most prominent for residential-dominant areas that could reduce the UHI intensity and AC load as much as 106.26% and 53.13%, respectively. In contrast to rural pavement, urban impervious surfaces induce negligible increases in temperature (4.75%) and AC load (2.33%). The outcome provides insights into the dominant parameters in LCZBCs and the strategy for urban (re) development.