Outdoor micro-climate: Air temperature measurements around an office building in Denmark during summer

TL;DR

This study measures the temperature variations around a Danish office building during summer, revealing significant micro-climate differences that can impact building design and urban climate models.

Contribution

It provides novel experimental data on outdoor micro-climate around buildings in Scandinavia, addressing a gap in existing research.

Findings

Temperature gradients up to 3.4°C on south facade

Temperature differences up to 13.6°C near rooftops

Data supports validation of urban climate models

Abstract

The outdoor micro-climate caused by the presence of buildings can significantly differ from that around weather stations located outside of urban areas. However, the latter is often used to design buildings and size building systems. This could lead to significant mistakes and performance gaps. To date, there is a certain lack of experimental studies assessing the micro-climate around buildings, especially in Scandinavian countries. The current paper presents the preliminary results and analysis of a measurement campaign of the temperature gradient in the two-meter air layer around the envelope of a multi-storey office building in Denmark in the summertime. Depending on the orientation of the external building surface (South/North fa\c{c}ade or rooftop), the distance from the latter and the weather conditions, the temperature in this two-meter air layer can vary significantly and differ from the air temperature measured at nearby open fields or recorded by the reference weather station. During sunny days, a temperature gradient of up to 3.4 {\deg}C and 13.6 {\deg}C was measured in the air layer around the South fa\c{c}ade and the rooftop, respectively. These results could help to validate urban climate models and bridge the gap between building design and real-condition performance. The curated dataset of this measurement campaign is available in open access.