IMPACT OF GREENERY AND URBAN MORPHOLOGY ON THE THERMAL ENVIRONMENT OF NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

Abstract

Rapid urbanisation at the cost of greenery is often seen in Singapore where dense forests have given way to buildings to accommodate the land-scarce nation, causing the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect to be amplified. The National University of Singapore (NUS) recognises the ongoing environmental problem and has launched the “Planting 10,000 Trees” initiative to combat climate change and rising temperatures. Additionally, recent work has shown complaints on overheating in some parts of the campus. Therefore, it is an opportune moment to investigate the effects of greenery and urban morphology on outdoor air temperature to evaluate the potential benefits of the initiative and mitigation measures for overheating. The findings have identified that locations with: (1) high building density; (2) high WALL values; (3) little greenery; and (4) high PAVE, would experience higher temperatures than its surroundings. Data shows that locations with greenery had better thermal performance than locations without. At peak periods, the following findings were found: (i) increase in GnPR by 1 causes a decrease in temperature by 0.24 oC; (ii) increase in WALL by 1000 m2 causes an increase in temperature by 0.08 oC; and (iii) increase in 0.01 PAVE causes an increase in temperature by 0.03 oC. Mitigation measures are provided based on the findings and it was found that besides the additional trees from the initiative, vertical greenery systems can be used in areas with space constraints, while cool pavements can be applied at locations with high PAVE to reduce the amount of solar radiation absorbed.