Urban Ventilation Corridors
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CUHK Researchers Help Cooling Chinese Cities
In 2012, Professor Edward NG Yan-yung from the School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and his research team were invited by the Wuhan Land Resources and Planning Bureau to start a research study on the planning and management of urban ventilation corridors in Wuhan, which aims to quantify the urban form, understand the urban air permeability, and develop the Master Plan for Wuhan Urban Ventilation Corridors. The Wuhan Municipal Government has subsequently incorporated Professor Ng's plan into its official regulatory framework for the first time. After the implementation of the Wuhan Urban Ventilation Corridor Plan, several air paths will be preserved in densely built Hankou while overall building density will be of particular focus in areas of lower building density such as Wuchang and Hanyang. Rising concern over urban air ventilation Urbanization has increased vastly worldwide in recent decades. It is associated with extensive conversion of the rural landscape into urban settlements, the heightening of urban density, deteriorating air quality, intensified urban heat islands, and even 'wall buildings' and the street canyon effect. A wide range of research studies about urban ventilation corridors have been carried out in order to improve urban air quality and street-level thermal comfort in western countries. In 2003, Professor Edward Ng was commissioned by the HKSAR Planning Department to do a Feasibility Study for the Establishment of an Air Ventilation Assessment System, in response to the public concern about urban air ventilation after the SARS outbreak. Completed in 2005, the findings and recommendations were adopted and incorporated into the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG) and a joint Technical Circular on air ventilation assessment systems was issued requiring all governmental projects to adhere to the assessment methodology. Chinese cities have recently experienced rapid urban development. This results in the frequent occurrence of dust haze events which affect approximately one-seventh of urban areas and cause deterioration in public health. There is an increasing public demand to preserve urban ventilation corridors in order to disperse such dust hazes. Hangzhou Meteorological Bureau began preparation for the introduction of an urban ventilation corridor last November and a number of cities, including Shanghai, Nanjing, Zhuzhou, Guiyang, Shaoxing and Fuzhou are following suit. From academic research to urban planning policy By employing a geographic information system (GIS) platform, Professor Ng's study for the Wuhan Municipal Government analyses the prevailing wind directions in the city, calculates the surface roughness and frontal area density of urban structures and visualizes the wind permeability in urban areas. The Wuhan Municipal Government has subsequently incorporated the planning of urban ventilation corridors into its official regulatory framework for the first time. Preliminary analysis showed that wind speed is rather low (2.7 m/s for most of the time) in Wuhan, particularly in the most densely built areas in Hankou. After the implementation of the Wuhan Urban Ventilation Corridor Plan, several air paths will be preserved in densely built Hankou while overall building density will be of particular focus in areas of lower building density such as Wuchang and Hanyang. Distinct from previous studies of urban ventilation corridors which largely remained at the research stage, the Wuhan Urban Ventilation Corridor Plan, led by Professor Ng, focuses on the implementation of a planning and legal framework. It also makes reference to the implementation of the Air Ventilation Assessment System in Hong Kong, which requires the preservation of air paths in district plans for the future. Any buildings with large vertical surfaces perpendicular to ventilation corridors will not be approved due to potential blockage of major air paths. Both studies have emerged from academic research and influence urban planning policy which will eventually improve environmental quality and create a more sustainable living environment. Professional training in sustainable design and green architecture needed Under the impact of future climate change, the need for sustainable and environmental design for better energy efficiency has become an issue encountered by governments and professional practitioners worldwide. In Hong Kong, the concept of sustainable development has received increasing attention. Led by the HKSAR Development Bureau (DevB), the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) was established in 2009 to promote the standards and development of sustainable buildings in Hong Kong. Moreover, the government offers various incentives to developers to adopt sustainable building design in their development projects. Professor Ng said, 'While expertise in this particular area is in enormous demand, there is a lack of relevant and comprehensive training programmes. Early in 2003, we envisioned such a huge demand and therefore established the Master of Science Program in Sustainable and Environmental Design in the School of Architecture (formerly known as Department of Architecture) at CUHK, to provide comprehensive and professional training based on the climate regions of Hong Kong, mainland China and Southeast Asia.' The program is composed of a wide range of global expertise in order to allow students to utilize that knowledge to improve the urban climate. Professor Ng also integrates his research experience in air paths into the course curriculum so that students can obtain the latest information and know about the development of associated policies in different countries. Such an arrangement considerably improves students' vision and competitiveness. Professor Ng said, 'Scientific research provides new insights into climate science while education allows the inheritance of knowledge in sustainable design and green architecture. They complement each other and benefit the future of humanity.'
Profile
Frey Architekten Group, founded in 1959, with the dedication of two generations of architects, among which prominently are the founder Friedrich Frey and the current Chairman Wolfgang Frey, has been successfully operating for 57 years. Its projects amount to more than one thousand, not only in a domestic market in Germany, but also in the Europe. Since 1970s, Frey Architekten Group was the leading designer and investigator of the solar photovoltaic technology in the region of Freiburg. " The task of an architect is to create and maintain environment-friendly space for people to live, work and communicate." The business of Frey Architekten Group varies from investment, project design, to construction and property management, all of which are manifestations to its high reputation in the field of sustainable architecture. In the past years it has brought a large amount of passive buildings designs to realization and accumulated lots of relevant experiences. In 2010, Frey Architekten Group has participated in the Shanghai World Expo as a representative of Freiburg, a city also called “the Environmental Capital of Germany”. In the EXPO the Group received the Best Practice Award by the presentation of its sustainable architecture and the delegation were received by the former German president Mr. Horst Köhler. The EXPO turned out to be an opportunity for the Group to explore the market in China. With the cooperation from the partner and the China regional director Ms. Jiakun Wang, the Group founded the WFP Architekten, whose businesses includes city planning, architecture design and ecological building consultation, among which the passive house is the focus of interest. ACADEMIC Mr. Frey has always been emphasizing the importance of the sustainable green architecture and city planning in his business. In his book “The Five Finger Principle”, he points out the five principles that should be combined with the sustainable development and further argues for the necessity of the concerns for social needs in the development of sustainable architecture. His ideas were widely received with appreciation and he was for many times invited to participate in the annual Conference on Urban Development and Planning in China as well as international conferences and forums for the ecological architecture. EXCHANGE Frey Architekten Group has received many delegations coming from all over the world, many of which are from China, such as that from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Qingdao Sino-German Ecopark, Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city, China Passive Building Alliance, CITIC Group, governments of Beijing, Shanghai, Zhuhai as well as the Tsinghua University and Tongji University. The Chairman of China Vanke has also led a delegation to visit the Group in person. COOPERATION Frey Architekten Group, as a cooperation partner of the PHI (Passive House Institute) in Germany, delicates to promote and develop passive houses in China. The Group is also a standard member of DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council), an official strategic partner of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). In 2012 the Group became the important strategic partner of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. In the same year Mr. Frey was awarded as “Tomorrow Maker” (Übermorgenmacher) by the government of Baden-Württemberg. In 2013 Mr. Frey was invited as special assessor to the first Solar Decathlon in Asia, which was initiated and organized by the U.S. Department of Energy. RECENTLY In 2014, the project “Smart Green Tower” by the Frey Architekten Group received the award of “Innovative and Energy Efficient Design” and won the support of organizations and companies such as Siemens, Fraunhofer ISE, Badenova and ads-te. In 2015, the Planning Bureau of Kunshan, China, invited the Group to join in the planning of urban ventilation corridors, with addressing to the local environmental problems especially the air pollution. In the same year, entrusted by the government of Zhuhai, China, the Group contributed to the project of EC-LINK (Europe-China Eco Cities Link), a sustainable building pilot project in the Lover´s Bay, Qianshan River in Zhuhai. Currently the Group is participating in the “Nanjing Kaishang Passive House” project. With a gross floor area of as much as 200,000 square meters, this project aims to build the first passive house park in one of the hot summer and cold winter zones in China.
Beijing channel solution will increase the blowing haze surrounding air pollution
Early last year has been proposed, the Beijing urban construction ventilation corridor blow away the haze. Recently, there was news that Beijing will build "five width of 500 meters above the level of ventilated corridor" "width of 80 meters above the secondary ventilated corridor"...... February 26, China urban studies will Digital City Engineering Research Center Deputy Director Xu Zhenqiang, science and Technology Daily reporter interview said that urban ventilation corridors to haze rule difficult to specimen and cure, planning implementation and achieved the goal with greater uncertainty; planning and design meter, approval, approval, implementation, construction, and use other processes, lack of systematic policy support and reference standard. Beijing heating season haze serious. Environmental monitoring data show that from November 15th to December 31st last year, the Beijing PM2.5 concentration increased by about 75% compared to the same period in 2014. Academician of the Chinese Academy of engineering, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences researcher Xu Xiangde said in November and December last year, Beijing average wind speed 1.7 m / s, for the same period in the history of the first small, small wind day number 47 days, for the same period in the history of first; 70.1% relative humidity, for the same period in the history of the largest. From the data, the Beijing heavy fog and wind small "hung up the hook", the construction of Urban Ventilation corridors will be blown away the effect of haze? Xu Zhenqiang said, strictly speaking, this is a temporary solution. Even if the wind into the haze retreat, "blue Beijing" again, do not make the new normal blue sky. Beijing, Tianjin and frequent fog and haze, pollution emissions is the internal cause, the weather is external. Sewage enterprises, units and individuals strictly in accordance with environmental standards and the requirements of the EIA, sewage, is fundamental governance haze, cut pollution load, improving the environmental capacity and prominent "minimally invasive" governance only helps to effect a permanent cure. "And the construction of Urban Ventilation corridor planning is according to the current situation and the urban development, but Beijing in the next 10 years, and 20 years of urban texture changes, especially around Beijing area urban structure will change, not full of confidence to confirm ventilation corridor planning to support the next 10 years or 20 years after the Beijing City, the blue sky, where the uncertainty is significant." "Urban planning and atmospheric environmental experts, in charge of the industry sector should brainstorm brewing scientific and applicable solutions." Xu Zhenqiang stressed. According to the plan, the 5 level ventilation corridor 500 meters wide from north to south through the city of Beijing. Xu Zhenqiang questioned said that such large scale corridor from Beijing through the core area, will have a significant impact on the existing style of the city. How to choose the nature of land allocation, if only for use of road and traffic facilities, "a city built with water or scar"; green corridor, how to solve the water problem? Land required rectification, the nature of land demolition and update cost how to coordinate the resolution? There is coordination with the surrounding area problem. Environmental monitoring found in southern Beijing, Northeastern Baoding, city of Langfang city at the junction of three existing "hot spots", namely "first haze pollution, the most polluted area. Xu Zhenqiang said, even if effective ventilation corridor, but, Langfang, Baoding urban space, industrial planning can not and achieve a good docking, polluting the air blowing from the north to the south, probably will increase the PM2.5 pollution in Beijing south, Baoding and Langfang area. The vice president Chinese Environmental Science Research Institute said: "the FA and wind speed is inversely proportional to the concentration of pollutants. High-rise buildings will cause the decrease of wind speed, the pollutant concentration increased." But he believes that the increase in the flow of the wind, not only let the city "disembowelling". "There is a large park in the city of New York in many countries, such as Manhattan's Central Park, covers an area of about 5000 acres. The park temperature is relatively low, the surrounding skyscrapers temperature is relatively high, the local temperature difference caused by the wind." Xu Zhenqiang agreed on the view of firewood cdcc. With the Beijing city large-scale "knife", for uncertain results, it is better to use "minimally invasive" means to achieve micro adjustment, city circulation, reduce cutting dust to dust. "Heavily polluted areas, on a wall coated with strong adsorption material, adsorption particle contamination with gravity, through the wall of the pipeline conveying away; commercial building sealing good, indoor air circulation less easy to pollution, at the top of the building installation reduction in air pollution control equipment, access to clean air can be sold to a building as building fresh air system" good air "replenishment.
Knowledge Graph
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1 City officials also aim to build a network of these urban ventilation corridors in the future.
2 Opening urban ventilation corridors and building urban rapid emergency channels are included in the plan.
3 "Urban Ventilation Corridors" are helpful for the improvement of the quality of air.