The Ecological City: Considering Outdoor Thermal Environment

The construction of eco-city is a hot spot nowadays, aiming to build harmony between human and nature. Ecological city is able to deal with the relationship between human and the environment, whose key point is to establish a comfortable outdoor thermal environment. To evaluate the built microclimate environment, a campus area located in Northwest China was selected. Different scenarios with extra greening, high albedo pavement materials, water body and their combinations were numerically analyzed through Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) incorporated in the software ENVI-met V4.0. Results demonstrated that the scenarios with water body or high albedo materials was found to have little contribution to reduce UTCI, while the green scenario significantly reduced the UTCI peak (6.9 ° C) and also the duration (4.5 hours) of heat stress. The present study may be used as a guide for urban planning and construction for ecological city.