Numerical simulation to assess the impact of urban green infrastructure on building energy use: A review

In order to address the increased urban heat island (UHI) effects and energy demand caused by global urbanization, it is imperative to seek sustainable urban design solutions. It is widely acknowledged that urban green infrastructure (UGI), which includes site-scale vegetation and building-integrated vegetation, influences the energy consumption of urban buildings. In the planning and design phases of UGI, numerical simulations are essential tools for evaluating and optimizing design strategies. However, the methodology for the simulation at various scales is still unclear, necessitating a comprehensive review of relevant studies. This review examined the research conducted on UGI modeling in numerical simulations of building energy consumption over the past 35 years and outlined the general workflow of these simulations. The numerical methods and tools for each step, as well as the coupling and validation methods for these tools, were described in detail. Thus, this study equips researchers with the knowledge necessary to analyze the impact of UGI on the energy consumption of buildings using numerical simulations. According to the review, existing building energy model (BEM) tools have not yet integrated modeling of site-scale vegetation for microclimate and shading. Future collaboration between urban climatologists and building physicists should be encouraged to improve the integration of climate and UGI shading simulations with BEM in order to simplify the use of numerical simulation tools.