July 15, 2024
Airflow Around a Curved Skyscraper and Its Impact on Temperature and Humidity in Houston
A mobile lab truck reveals the properties of street canyon vortices and how they interact with local heat and moisture.
Measurements collected around the curved Wells Fargo Plaza skyscraper show flow hitting curved walls leads to the formation of well-established vortices in four street canyons around the skyscraper.
[Reprinted with permission from Davis, E. V., and K. Lamer. "Observations of Airflow Around a Supertall Curved Building and Its Impact on Temperature and Humidity in Houston’s Urban Center." Building and Environment 260 111693 (2024). DOI:10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111693.]
The Science
Buildings enclosing a street form what is known as a street canyon. A team of researchers deployed laser and weather balloons to quantify climate conditions in four street canyons surrounding a curved skyscraper in Houston, Texas. The study aims to improve understanding of the impact of building height and shape on local wind patterns and temperature and humidity within street canyons.
The Impact
When incoming winds hit the skyscraper’s curved wall, the two perpendicular street canyons experience similar airflow vortex circulations. This pattern differs from the pattern produced by a straight-edge building where each street canyon experiences a different airflow vortex circulation. Observations also show heat trapping is most significant in the most enclosed portion of each street canyon. These results provide insights to assess wind load, pedestrian comfort, urban air mobility, and natural ventilation. Results could be a benchmark for numerical model and wind tunnel studies attempting to realistically represent complex urban conditions.
Summary
Observations also suggest a feedback exists between thermodynamic stability and airflow within the street canyons. Daytime thermodynamic stability can lead to nighttime thermodynamic instability in a street canyon because it reduces upward ventilation and thus contributes to heat accumulation in the canyon’s lowest levels. Atmospheric thermodynamic stability can vary among the four street canyons around one building. This variation is likely caused by the enclosed nature of urban street canyons and the high levels of heterogeneity either in form, fabric, or function found in urban environments.
Principal Investigator
Katia Lamer
Brookhaven National Laboratory
[email protected]
Co-Principal Investigator
Edwin V. Davis
Brookhaven National Laboratory
[email protected]
Program Manager
Sally McFarlane
U.S. Department of Energy, Biological and Environmental Research (SC-33)
Urban Integrated Field Laboratories
[email protected]
Funding
Conceptualization and data collection in this study were supported by Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Program Development Grant PD21-025 “Establishing the Energy Environment Measurement Technologies Group.” Scientific data analysis and writing were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research program’s Urban Integrated Field Laboratories research activity under field work proposal EE686EECP “Southwest Integrated Field Laboratory.”
References
Davis, E. V., and K. Lamer. "Observations of Airflow Around a Supertall Curved Building and Its Impact on Temperature and Humidity in Houston’s Urban Center." Building and Environment 260 111693 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111693.