Abstract:
The serious environmental challenges that the human settlements are faced with, such as climate change, resource crisis, greenhouse gas emissions and water crisis are necessitated changing the perspectives and adopting the adaptive policies of guiding and controlling the human settlements towards responsiveness of the above challenges. Accordingly, the present research aims at investigating the effective aspects of urban form on environmental performances while focusing on urban openness as one of the important general factors of built form. The methodological framework of the research has been founded on the analytical-comparative studies of the impacts of urban form on the theoretical energy demands according to the specific morphological units in the general morphological context of the Isfahan. On this basis, five tissue types (morphological units) have been selected arising from urban morphological approaches and methods as the comparative and analytical basis of the study. The results and findings demonstrate that there is a strong and significant correlation between energy demands and urban openness in general while the two classes of measures in terms of levels of complexity are classified as the analytical basis of the research. Results demonstrate that geometrical and configurational aspects of urban form are in compliance with the climatic conditions in environmental performances studies. Finally, indicating the paradoxical behaviors of heating energy demands in cold seasons and cooling energy demands in hot seasons especially in the case of hot and arid climate conditions in relation with urban morphological characteristics (focusing on urban openness factor) has been considered as the most important achievement of this research.
Machine summary:
The methodological framework of the research has been founded on the analytical-comparative studies of the impacts of urban form on the theoretical energy demands according to the specific morphological units in the general morphological context of the Isfahan.
Finally, indicating the paradoxical behaviors of heating energy demands in cold seasons and cooling energy demands in hot seasons especially in the case of hot and arid climate conditions in relation with urban morphological characteristics (focusing on urban openness factor) has been considered as the most important achievement of this research.
(View the image of this page) Tissue Type 5 • Multi-Story Front Court • Isolated Apartment The Isolated Apartment Blocks and Grid Multi- Story Front Court • Grid Structure • Isolated Block Apartments (Kropf & Changalvaiee, 2014) MORPHOLOGICAL ASPECTS FOCUSING ON URBAN OPENNESS AND ENERGY PERFORMANCES Quoted from Ratti et al.
Openness factor as one of the general aspects of urban form resulting from these processes embodied in geometrical context of general morphological characteristics has been investigated in several studies and researches in relation with energy performances.
According to the other aspects of urban form, Robinson, Comapgnon and others indicated that three vertical surfaces (Mean sky view factor, Mean urban horizon angle and Mean height to width ratio) have significant influences on solar thermal viability in relation with solar gains which seems that these parameter could be considered as analytical factors to heating and cooling demands (Robinson et al.