Evaluations & Reviews
Introduction
A system like ENVI-met generates a huge amount of different data about many different aspects of the environmental system observed. It is impossible to assess and evaluate all these data in one. Moreover, a model is a model and the reality is the reality. There is a conceptual difference between both systems, hence a complex program cannot be “validated” against the reality, even this is often asked for.
Monitoring and measuring the “real” world is also subject to many pitfalls and uncertainties like the modelling work. Just because you have read the data from your measurement device does not mean that this is the “reality”. A different person with, maybe, a different device, coming just 2 minutes after you to a location considered as the same spot may read data more different to yours than the complete model will show in the complete domain.
Therefore we think that “validation” is a task that may be possible in a controlled environment with a limited set of variables, but not in a real world environmental system and not in the constellation simplified model against selective measured point data. Hence, we will use the term “evaluation” in the context ENVI-met which is much more open for discussion than a right-or-wrong checklist a validation would require.
ENVI-met is a pure physical based model. The quality of the model results will, if we neglect programming errors and conceptual flaws, in the first row depend on the accuracy of the input data provided. If –for example- the material properties do not fit, the model will not calculate the correct material temperatures for you. It is also completely ok to work with default data from the model. But don't expect that, for example, the 'Asphalt road' in the default database will match an asphalt road at your place - and consequently, the calculated values won't be the same as well.
After these lines of warning and disclaiming, next you will find a list of research projects, studies, papers etc. which we think are representative for the behaviour of ENVI-met as it is today
Evaluation Studies: Urban Microclimate & Landscape Microclimate
Numerical modelling and experimental validation of the microclimatic impacts of water mist cooling in urban areas Cooling through water mist is a very effective tool especially in hot and dry climates. This paper shows details about ENVI-mets' water spray model not documented so far and acase study performed in Rome (Energy and Buildings, 2021)
Energy saving potential of fragmented green spaces due to their temperature regulating ecosystem services in the summer A comprehensive paper on quantifing the cooling potential of green spaces applied to a Chines case study. Includes field studies and model verification. (Applied Energy, 2016)
Counteracting Urban Heat Island Effects in a Global Climate Change Scenario This open-access book covers a wide range of adaption and mitigation strategies to react on Climate Change scenarios. A row of papers deal with the application of ENVI-met, but in this comprehensive book with studies all over Europe there is much more to learn about urban climate and Climate change influence urban planning. (Editor: Francesco Musco, Springer 2016)
Contribution of trees and grasslands to the mitigation of human heat stress in a residential district of Freiburg, Southwest Germany A validation and scenario study on the effects of trees and grasslands to mitigate climate change impacts. The validation study is based on the 2003 mid-European heat wave event. (Landscape and Urban Planning, 2016)
Urban Fabric Types and Microclimate Response -Assessment and Design Improvement A very comprehensive Austrian project on the impact of urban structures on microclimate based on ENVI-met 4 simulations including evaluation with measurements. (Projekt Report)
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Use And Evaluation of The Envi-met Model for Two Different Urban Forms in Cairo, Egypt: Measurements and Model Simulations. A validation study (2013) on the impact of urban desin on thermal comfort in Egypt. (Conference Paper)
Influence of Planting Designs on Winter Thermal comfort in an Urban Park One of the still rare papers that focuses on cold outdoor conditions in winter and the impact of different park designs on outdoor microclimate in Iran. (Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management 2018/19)
Evaluation of a microclimate model for predicting the thermal behaviorof different ground surfaces A validation on microclimate performance in South China. (Building and Environment, 2013)
Urban tree design approaches for mitigating daytime urban heat island effects in a high-density urban environment Analysis on the efect of vegetation shading and wind paths on air temperature and radiative temperature compared with meassurements in Hong Kong. (Energy & Buildings, 2015)
Comparative analysis of green actions to improve outdoor thermal comfort inside typical urban street canyons A systematic study on different heat stress mitigation strategies evaluated for Bilbao, Spain through numerical simulation. (Urban Climate, 2015)
Parametric Studies Input Data
Understanding ENVI-met model behaviour in relation to environmental variables A study on the impact of various design parameters on the microclimate calculated by ENI-met. (PLEA 2017)
Urban microclimate and outdoor thermal comfort. A proper procedure to fit ENVI-met simulation outputs to experimental data This paper presents a very detailed view onto the quality requirements of ENVI-met input data and analysis the output data both of V3.1 and V4.0 compared to experimental data. (Sustainable Cities and Society, 2016)
General Overviews
Green Infrastructure as an Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategy—A Review A meta study (2009-2020) about different GI strategies including a review of ENVI-met 50 simulations in peer reviewed papers. (Water, 2021)
Analyzing the ENVI-met microclimate model’s performance and assessing cool materials and urban vegetation applications–A review A very comprehensive overview over past (-2018) studies using ENVI-met both for material adaption strategies and green infrastructure. (Sustainable Cities and Society, 2018)
Recent Trends and Remaining Limitations in Urban Microclimate Models An overview (2015) meta study on the usage of microscale model to simulate urban climate over the past 10 years. (Open Urban Studies and Demography Journal, 2015)