An evaluation of outdoor and building environment cooling achieved through combination modification of trees with ground materials

This study focuses on the optimum cooling effect of trees with ground materials modification in mitigating the urban heat island (UHI) and the benefits towards building energy performance in tropical climate. The modification focused on both physical properties – i.e. tree canopy density and quantity; and the albedo values of ground materials. Two phases of methodology were developed and applied using field measurement and computer simulation. This study measured the average monthly UHI intensity found to be +2.6 °C. In mitigating its impact, higher levels of tree canopy density (LAI 9.7) coupled with “cool” materials (albedo of 0.8) produced the largest urban air temperature reduction. Simulations predicted an average air temperature reduction of 2.7 °C when compared with the current condition. Further, both modifications were found to produce a potential building cooling load reduction of up to 29%. In fact, the optimum improvement of both outdoor and indoor environment was influenced by three major physical factors, namely, larger tree quantity, higher canopy density and cool materials. Thus, it is suggested that appropriate guidelines, influencing implementation of these improvements could be implemented in order to mitigate the UHI effect in tropical climate.