Robert Brown helps us see that a "thermally comfortable microclimate" is the very foundation of well-designed and well-used outdoor places. Brown argues that as we try to minimize human-induced changes to the climate and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels-as some areas become warmer, some cooler, some wetter, and some drier, and all become more expensive to regulate-good microclimate design will become increasingly important. In the future, according to Brown, all designers will need to understand climatic issues and be able to respond to their challenges. Brown describes the effects that climate has on outdoor spaces-using vivid illustrations and examples-while providing practical tools that can be used in everyday design practice. The heart of the book is Brown's own design process, as he provides useful guidelines that lead designers clearly through the complexity of climate data, precedents, site assessment, microclimate modification, communication, design, and evaluation. Brown strikes an ideal balance of technical information, anecdotes, examples, and illustrations to keep the book engaging and accessible. His emphasis throughout is on creating microclimates that attend to the comfort, health, and well-being of people, animals, and plants. Design with Microclimate is a vital resource for students and practitioners in landscape architecture, architecture, planning, and urban design.

Creating Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency Microclimatic Landscape Design shows designers how to work withnature to create climatically pleasant spaces for human activities.With remarkable clarity, it covers both the scientific backgroundand the design techniques needed for shaping spaces that increasecomfort and reduce energy consumption. This comprehensive,environmentally-sensitive guide: Presents the basic principles of microclimatology and explainshow objects in the landscape affect climate to createmicroclimates Describes methods for modifying the key variables in amicroclimate, including radiation, wind, temperature, humidity, andprecipitation Shows how to create successful, comfortable spaces under a widevariety of climatic conditions Explains energy budgets and the effects of landscape on energyuse in buildings Includes useful formulas for determining human thermal comfort,estimating solar radiation absorbed by a person, and estimatingwind in a given landscape For landscape architects, architects, contractors, and planners,Microclimatic Landscape Design is a concise, practical, andindispensable guide to improving the comfort of outdoor spaces andreducing the heating or cooling loads on buildings.

This title provides architects and urban design professionals with an understanding of how the structure of built spaces at all scales affects microclimatic conditions in the space between buildings and analyses the interaction between microclimate and each element of the urban landscape.

A beautifully laid-out square where you are nearly blown off your feet. A modern city apartment in which it is too hot to sleep in the summer. Everyone knows examples of urban architecture whose design fails to take the urban climate properly into account. The publication 'Weather in the City. How Design Determines the Urban Climate' explains and illustrates in a comprehensible way how smart urban design can enhance comfort in the city. The way we experience the urban climate depends on physical and psychological factors dictated by our surroundings. This book uses these factors to explain how the basic processes of the urban climate work and how they can be influenced by spatial planning and urban design. Richly illustrated with photographs, diagrams and practical examples Weather in the City is both a reference work and a source of inspiration for all those working to enhance the quality of city life: commissioners, policymakers, professionals and students in urban design, landscape architecture and planning. --Provided by Publisher.

How climate influenced the design strategies of modernist architects Modern Architecture and Climate explores how leading architects of the twentieth century incorporated climate-mediating strategies into their designs, and shows how regional approaches to climate adaptability were essential to the development of modern architecture. Focusing on the period surrounding World War II—before fossil-fuel powered air-conditioning became widely available—Daniel Barber brings to light a vibrant and dynamic architectural discussion involving design, materials, and shading systems as means of interior climate control. He looks at projects by well-known architects such as Richard Neutra, Le Corbusier, Lúcio Costa, Mies van der Rohe, and Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, and the work of climate-focused architects such as MMM Roberto, Olgyay and Olgyay, and Cliff May. Drawing on the editorial projects of James Marston Fitch, Elizabeth Gordon, and others, he demonstrates how images and diagrams produced by architects helped conceptualize climate knowledge, alongside the work of meteorologists, physicists, engineers, and social scientists. Barber describes how this novel type of environmental media catalyzed new ways of thinking about climate and architectural design. Extensively illustrated with archival material, Modern Architecture and Climate provides global perspectives on modern architecture and its evolving relationship with a changing climate, showcasing designs from Latin America, Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and Africa. This timely and important book reconciles the cultural dynamism of architecture with the material realities of ever-increasing carbon emissions from the mechanical cooling systems of buildings, and offers a historical foundation for today’s zero-carbon design.

​​This book discusses urban microclimate and heat-related risks in urban areas, brought on by the combination of global climate change effects and local modification of climate determined by extensive urbanization such as the ‘Urban heat island’ phenomenon. This matter is relevant to almost all urbanized areas in the world, where the increase of urban population and air temperature is expected to endanger both the overall health of the population and the energy supply for the functioning of urban systems. The book details the inter-relationship between urban morphology, microclimate and building energy performance and presents a multidisciplinary approach that brings together Urban Climatology, Engineering and Architectural knowledge to support the development of reliable models and tools for research and practice. This book is a useful tool for architects and building energy modelers, urban planners and geographers who need a practical guide to realize basic urban microclimate simulation for use in both academic research and planning practice.

Urban microclimates cannot be explained solely on the basis of scientific phenomena, but are also affected materially and spatially by the city’s local architecture. The layout, design, and facade construction of buildings have a major impact on wind and temperature conditions. For this reason, architecture and urban design that have an effect on microclimates must be investigated in their social and cultural contexts. The publication uses international case studies to explain these relationships. The focus is on manifestations of urban microclimates in an architectural and urban design context. The places investigated are located in France, Italy, the USA, New Zealand, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Burkina Faso.