Improving School Transition Spaces Microclimate to Make Them Liveable in Warm Climates

Abstract

The so-called urban heat islands (UHI) is a thermal phenomenon characterized by higher air temperatures in the urban area than in rural surroundings. Vernacular passive strategies such as courtyards are proved to be useful to generate specific microclimates, especially in the warmer regions of the Earth. Courtyards increase the porosity of the cities, understanding porosity as building voids. Accordingly, their study will be fundamental in reducing the UHI effect by generating urban cooling microislands. This paper aims to analyze two passive strategies capable of modifying the thermal effect of radiation inside the courtyard of two school buildings: albedo and vegetation. In this regard, two case studies were assessed, both of them located in the city of Seville. Results show that the temperature in these spaces can vary up to 7 °C depending on the albedo, which confirms the importance of detecting an optimal albedo factor. In addition, data showed a significant increase in the thermal delta (TD), courtyard versus outdoor temperature, after the installation of a vegetal facade. Accordingly, both strategies will be fundamental in locations affected by climate change, especially considering that they are not only effective cooling strategies but also relatively easy to implement in the building’s refurbishment process.