Updates on Urban Microclimate Modeling

We’re excited to share a collection of recent papers from Sina PhD research on urban microclimate modeling, simulation tools, and outdoor thermal comfort. These studies aim to improve how we model complex urban environments—integrating humidity, vegetation, and coupled urban physics into tools that support sustainable design.

Journal Paper:

• Incorporating Convective Heat Transfer and Humidity Effects in Urban Microclimate Modeling: Should We Care?
  Rahimi, S., Kastner, P., & Berardi, U. (2025), Building and Environment, 276, 112858.
  Investigates the impact of including both convective heat and humidity in CFD-based microclimate models. Results show that neglecting these leads to significant prediction errors.
  [LINK]

Conference Papers:

• Comparative Modeling of Urban Microclimate and Outdoor Thermal Comfort: A Case Study of Georgia Tech Campus
  S. Rahimi, G. Vegas, C. Chen, T. Marshall, U. Berardi, P. Kastner – Submitted to CESBP2025
  Compares urbanMicroclimateFoam and ENVI-met using on-site data. urbanMicroclimateFoam showed higher accuracy and better performance for UHI and outdoor comfort modeling.
• Assessing the Complexity Required for Enhancing Eddy3D: Validation of urbanMicroclimateFoam for Urban Heat Island Mitigation
  S. Rahimi, U. Berardi, P. Kastner, B. Stone – IABP 2024, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Vol. 553.
  Validates the urbanMicroclimateFoam solver through transient simulations over Georgia Tech, using detailed geometry and on-site weather data. The work lays the foundation for its integration into Eddy3D’s microclimate modules.
  [LINK]
• How Much Computational Complexity is Necessary to Model Relevant Urban Physics?
  S. Rahimi, U. Berardi, P. Kastner – IABP 2024, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Vol. 553.
  Explores how physical and geometric complexity affect simulation accuracy, helping inform model setup decisions in urban microclimate studies.
  [LINK]

These projects aim to improve simulation tools, support more accurate outdoor comfort predictions, and enhance design workflows through tools like Eddy3D.

A thank you to Gonzalo Vegas, Marcelo Alvarez, and everyone who has contributed along the way.

These contributions are part of a broader effort to make urban climate simulations more accurate, scalable, and design-relevant. Reach out if you’d like to read any of the papers or collaborate on future work!