Across Europe, a persistent heat dome has brought record-breaking temperatures from Portugal to the Balkans. Portugal registered its hottest June day at 46.6 °C, while Spain, France, and Italy faced similar extremes. Cities responded with emergency measures: school closures, restrictions on outdoor work, and wildfire alerts. Even typically cooler regions such as the UK exceeded 33 °C, with hundreds of suspected heat-related deaths.
In North America, New York, Toronto, and Washington D.C. experienced highs near 37 °C, causing power outages and public transit disruptions. Meanwhile, northern India and Pakistan faced dangerous conditions as early as April, with temperatures near 48 °C.
These trends confirm what climate models have long predicted: heatwaves are becoming more frequent, more intense, and arriving earlier each year. Urban planners and designers must therefore integrate thermal comfort assessment into every stage of design to improve liveability and resilience.
ENVI-met is a 3D microclimate simulation software that models how air, surfaces, vegetation, and buildings interact. The tool supports data-driven design and helps quantify how planning choices affect thermal comfort at street level.
ENVI-met allows professionals to:
These capabilities make ENVI-met a practical choice for municipalities, engineering consultancies, and urban developers seeking to evaluate the thermal performance of open spaces before construction.
To understand how people actually experience heat in cities, air temperature alone is not enough. Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) provides a human-centred metric that translates complex meteorological data into a single value in °C.
PET integrates:
This combination provides a more accurate reflection of perceived thermal comfort and helps planners design spaces that mitigate heat stress. For instance, a PET analysis of Hyde Park, London, at 2 PM during summer reveals how tree canopy density and material reflectivity shape visitor comfort levels.
Analyzing PET through ENVI-met enables professionals to:
In Madrid’s “Los Berrocales” development area, for example, 3D PET analysis with ENVI-met revealed how planting configuration and surface albedo directly influence pedestrian comfort. Such modelling guides design interventions that measurably reduce local air and surface temperatures.
With dynamic pedestrian-comfort modules and advanced radiation modelling, ENVI-met continues to evolve alongside the realities of urban climate change. Whether planning a city square, school campus, or residential quarter, these simulation tools provide actionable insights that help reduce heat exposure, improve outdoor usability, and strengthen long-term climate resilience.
Integrating data-driven tools like ENVI-met into urban design and policy frameworks allows planners to quantify, visualize, and mitigate heat risk—creating cooler, healthier, and more sustainable cities.
As cities face intensifying heat stress and rapid urbanization, integrating thermal comfort assessment tools like ENVI-met and PET into urban design is no longer optional; it is essential. These models enable planners and architects to visualize, quantify, and mitigate the effects of heat at the human scale, ensuring that public spaces remain livable and adaptive under changing climates. By embracing data-driven microclimate analysis, urban designers can make informed decisions that enhance comfort, promote health, and build resilience, creating cities that not only withstand rising temperatures but also thrive in them.