Roles of trees and woodland are not only restricted to those of aesthetically and landscaping. They also include moderating micro/macro climate. Reducing wind speed in the vicinity area of a woodland or a windbreak place an important role in urban planning. Although the sheltering effects of vegetation have been known and utilized in urban planning and landscape design, there is lack of quantitative studies on reducing wind speed and thereafter space heating in Scotland and even in the UK. The study carried our earlier computes that a shelterbelt that reduces 50% of its leeward wind speed can save about 4.5% heating energy in a conventional medium size office building. The saving could be large in a modern office with large glazed façade. To quantitatively evaluate the sheltering effect, a modeling study is to be carried out, consisting of three elements: Firstly a statistical analysis of weather data was carried out to identify the prevailing wind direction during a typical winter heating season. That would ensure that the rows of trees were placed rightly to maximize their sheltering benefits for the buildings in their leeward. The second part was the development of a computer model that simulates the effects of shelter trees on space heating of a building. The last one was the parametric study applying the model to the same building modeled in a previous study but with significantly larger area of glazed façade to estimate the sheltering effect on energy saving and CO2 reduction. This forms a continuation of study for various types of offices.
Keywords. sheltering effect; computer mode; parametric study
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How to cite this article
Wang, F. and Liu, Y. (2003). 'Sheltering effect of trees on reducing space heating in an office building with large glazing area in a windy city'. SET Proceedings, 2(1), pp. 252-259. https://doi.org/10.65582/set.2003.056
