Improving urban liveability | ENVI-met from One Click LCA

Urban environments face multiple environmental challenges — including extreme heat, limited ventilation, and compromised air quality — that can adversely affect outdoor spaces and public health. Mitigating these issues is important for urban areas seeking to improve safety and liveability.

Listen to the article

Improving urban liveability | ENVI-met from One Click LCA

5:27

ENVI-met, a holistic microclimate simulation tool from One Click LCA, allows urban planners to model environmental factors at a local level, equipping them with insights for tackling heat-related issues in urban design.

This article explores how ENVI-met’s simulation capabilities contribute to addressing critical health challenges in urban design.

Understanding the link between microclimate and health

Urban microclimate — a specific, localized area with different conditions than the surrounding environment — is shaped by temperature, humidity, and air movement. In urban settings, microclimates impact daily life, with conditions that can either mitigate or exacerbate heat stress, air quality, and outdoor comfort.

Poorly managed microclimates may contribute to elevated heat and pollution levels, creating less comfortable and potentially harmful environments. Addressing these issues contributes to creating environments that support both physical and mental well-being. Microclimate simulation provides data-driven insights that help designers create spaces where people can feel comfortable, breathe cleaner air, and find relief from extreme weather.

Microclimate modeling: What is it and why is it important?

ENVI-met’s role in promoting health and well-being

ENVI-met’s range of simulation features enables designers to tackle urban health challenges through targeted, data-informed strategies. Here’s how ENVI-met’s core capabilities contribute to human health and well-being:

Managing extreme heat

High temperatures in urban environments — especially in high-density areas — can increase the risk of heat-related illnesses and make outdoor spaces less usable. ENVI-met models both shortwave and longwave radiation, helping identify urban heat islands and areas where shading or cooling interventions are needed.

By simulating nature-based solutions, like green roofs and vegetative shading, ENVI-met supports strategies that naturally lower temperatures, providing relief from extreme heat and reducing dependency on energy-intensive cooling systems. It can also analyze how surface types, such as facades and roofs, differ in sun exposure throughout the day, enabling more precise cooling interventions.

ENVI_met (8)

Improving air quality

Air pollution poses significant health risks, particularly in urban areas where traffic and industrial emissions are high. ENVI-met’s pollutant dispersion feature models the movement of gases and particles, allowing designers to evaluate how pollutants spread through an area. By identifying where pollutants may accumulate, ENVI-met enables urban planners to strategically place green spaces, which act as natural filters, and manage wind flow to disperse pollutants. These insights are crucial for creating healthier, more breathable environments.

ENVI_met (5)

Enhancing thermal comfort

Thermal comfort is influenced by a variety of factors such as temperature, air humidity, sun exposure, and airflow. ENVI-met calculates thermal comfort indices such as the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) and Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), which enable a detailed assessment of how people perceive climate in different settings. With these insights, designers can optimize building orientation, landscaping, and materials to improve thermal comfort, encouraging outdoor activities and social interactions even during warmer periods. ENVI-met’s dynamic thermal comfort assessment can model the comfort of people moving through urban spaces, adding a new layer of detail to comfort analysis.

ENVI_met (7)

Protecting from strong winds

The tool also assesses how buildings impact wind patterns, crucial for minimizing wind hazards at street level. Skyscrapers, for example, have amplified wind effects in cities like Toronto and Leeds, raising pedestrian safety concerns. ENVI-met's 3D computational fluid dynamics model provides detailed wind flow analysis, which can highlight where wind is slowed by obstacles or redirected by building layouts. By using ENVI-met, planners can design safer, more resilient urban spaces to address wind challenges.

ENVI_met (4)

Using ENVI-met to create healthier urban spaces

Real-world projects demonstrate ENVI-met’s impact on health-centered urban design:

Reducing heat stress in Dubai: A project in Dubai used ENVI-met to evaluate the cooling effects of greenery. The simulation shows that strategic vegetation could reduce temperatures, making outdoor spaces more comfortable in extreme heat.
Lowering temperatures in Valencia: ENVI-met simulations in Valencia demonstrated that introducing green spaces and shading could significantly reduce street-level temperatures during summer.
Improving cooling with green spaces: ENVI-met simulations show that larger, square green spaces create stronger cooling effects. When these spaces are aligned with narrow, radial streets and prevailing winds, cooling is further amplified, making urban areas more comfortable and livable.

For more information on how ENVI-met can support healthier urban design, visit ENVI-met from One Click LCA.