Investigation of the Impact of Wind Environment on Urban Building Energy: A Performance Simulation Framework with a Case Study of Shanghai, China

As awareness of the low-carbon healthy city concept increases, various factors affecting urban building energy consumption are garnering increased attention. Studies indicate that the urban wind environment, as a crucial microclimate element, significantly impacts building energy consumption through mechanisms such as directly influencing building ventilation and infiltration or indirect effects such as wind-driven rain. However, a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between the urban wind environment and building energy consumption is lacking, particularly regarding the quantitative correlation between spatiotemporal evaluation indicators of the wind environment and building energy use. In this study, we propose a co-simulation framework, based on the Grasshopper platform, to acquire more accurate wind environments surrounding buildings and subsequently compute building energy usage. Using typical ventilation patterns of city blocks, as located in Shanghai, China, we conduct quantitative analysis and validation of the relationship between the wind environment and building energy consumption during summer and winter. The results show that the precision of the data for the wind environment boundary conditions directly influences energy simulation. An initial relationship has been obtained between energy use in different blocks as affected by the wind environment. The conclusions of the study provide strategies and guidance to government managers and planners on the design of building ventilation to achieve acceptable performance in an urban context.