Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596

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Building and Environment

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A design supporting simulation system for predicting and evaluating the cool
microclimate creating effect of passive evaporative cooling walls
Jiang He a, b, *
a
School of Civil Engineering, Guangxi University,100 Daxue Road, Nanning, Guangxi 530004, PR China
b
Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259-G5-2 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku,
Yokohama 226 8502, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: As a passive cooling strategy to control increased surface temperatures and create cooler urban envi-
Received 12 July 2010 ronments, we have developed a passive evaporative cooling wall (PECW) constructed of pipe-shaped
Received in revised form ceramics that possess a capillary force to absorb water up to a level higher than 130 cm. The current
9 September 2010
paper presents a simulation system to predict and evaluate microclimatic modifying effects of PECWs in
Accepted 10 September 2010
urban locations where PECW installation is under consideration at the design stage. This simulation
system is composed of a CFD simulation tool and a 3D-CAD-based thermal simulation tool. Simulation
Keywords:
methodology of coupling the two simulation tools was developed and described in this paper. Numerical
Passive cooling
Evaporation
models for simulating surface temperatures and evaporation of PECWs were proposed based on analysis
Urban environment results of experimental data. Validation of the proposed numerical models was confirmed by comparing
Microclimate simulated results with measured data. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed simu-
Thermal comfort lation system, a case study was then performed to predict and evaluate the microclimate in a rest station
Coupled simulation where PECWs were assumed to be installed. Spatial distributions of air temperature, airflow, moisture
and surface temperature in the rest station were simulated under a sunny weather condition in the
summer of Tokyo. Furthermore, thermal comfort indexes (mean radiant temperature and new standard
effective temperature) were used to evaluate thermal comfort in the human activity spaces of the rest
station. Simulation results show that this simulation system can provide quantitative predictions and
evaluations of microclimatic modifying effects resulting from the application of PECWs.
Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction urban surface temperatures and creating cooler urban environ-

Controlling the increase of urban surface temperatures is one of
most important strategies for mitigating the urban heat island
effect. As one of these mitigation strategies, to cool urban surfaces
by means of water evaporation, i.e., evaporative cooling approaches
would be effective and of less environmental impact. From the
energy-saving viewpoint, as a passive cooling approach, positive
application of materials with evaporative cooling effect to the
urban surface has become a great concern in the urban environ-
mental design. In addition, cooler urban environments could be
created by applying these materials to urban vertical surfaces (such
as building walls or fences) that surround the human activity
spaces. Thus, to provide a passive cooling strategy for reducing
* Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Environmental Science
and Technology, Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Tokyo Institute of Technology,
4259-G5-2 Nagatsuta-cho, Midori-ku, Yokohama 226 8502, Japan. Tel.: þ86
7713232894; fax: þ86 7713236273.
E-mail address: kanohj2010@gmail.com.
ments, the author’s research group has developed a passive evap-
orative cooling wall (PECW) constructed of porous ceramics. These
ceramics possess a capillary force to absorb water up to a level
higher than 130 cm when their lower end is placed in water. The
cooling effects and applicability of the developed PECW have been
investigated through a long-term experiment conducted in an
outdoor location, as documented in our previous papers [1,2].
A practical type of the PECW was proposed as a unit which was
constructed of pipe-shaped ceramics (hereafter called the ceramic
pipe) as illustrated in Fig. 1. A PECW unit consists of four rows of
ceramic pipes with a height of 1.8 m. There are 11 ceramic pipes in
each row. The PECW (ceramic pipe) surfaces can be cooled down to
a temperature nearly equal to the wet-bulb temperature by facili-
tating the evaporation of water soaked from the water tank. This
results in cooler surfaces in outdoor locations on sunny summer
days, so that a radiative cooling effect could be provided to a person
near the PECW. Furthermore, the PECW allows wind to pass through
it, and the passing air can be cooled while passing through the
PECW. As a result, cooler airflow can be provided on the leeward side

0360-1323/$ e see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2010.09.005
 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596 585

Nomenclature U velocity (m/s)

as solar absorptance U0 velocity at a reference height (m/s)
Am surface area of a grid for the ceramic pipe (m2) ui velocity components in i direction (m/s)
Ap total surface area for a unit height of the PECW (m2/m) x coordinates in the normal direction to a mesh surface
c specific heat (J/(kg K)) (m)
C1, C2, C3 constants in the turbulent equation xi three components of coordinates (m)
Cf friction coefficient Xa absolute humidity mixing ratio at temperature of Ta
cm specific heat of humid air (J/(kg K)) (kg/kg(DA))
cp specific heat (J/(kg K)) Xs absolute humidity of saturated air at temperature of Ts
Cm constant in the turbulent model (kg/kg(DA))
D outer diameter of the ceramic pipe (m) W absorbed water for a grid of the ceramic pipe (kg/s)
Dm water vapor diffusivity (m2/s) WD weight of a ceramic pipe in the completely dry
DT water diffusivity for temperature gradient (m2/(s K)) condition (kg)
Df water diffusivity for water content gradient (m2/(s K)) Wp total absorbed water by a ceramic pipe (kg/s)
E evaporation (kg/(m2 s)) WS weight of a ceramic pipe in the saturated condition
Ep total evaporation from a ceramic pipe (kg/s) (kg)
d difference between inner and outer diameter of the WT weight of a ceramic pipe in the un-saturated condition
ceramic pipe (m) (kg)
gi gravity acceleration in i direction (m/s2) z height (m)
hc convection coefficient (W/(m2 K)) z0 reference height (m)
hcp average convection coefficient of the PECW (W/(m2 K))
l latent heat (J/kg) Greek symbols
Lm height of a mesh grid (m) b evaporation efficiency
NL number of lines (rows) e dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (m2/s3)
NT number of ceramic pipes at a line es emissivity
Nu Nusselt number l thermal conductivity (W/(m K))
RL long-wave radiation (W/m2) lt turbulent thermal conductivity (W/(m K))
Rs solar radiation (W/m2) h volumetric expansion coefficient of air (K1)
k turbulent kinetic energy (m2/s2) m dynamic viscosity coefficient (kg/(m s))
Kw hydraulic conductivity (m/s) mt eddy viscosity coefficient (kg/(m s))
n number of mesh grids n kinematic viscosity coefficient (m2/s)
p pressure (N/m2) r density (kg/m3)
Prt turbulent Prandtl number s Stefan-Boltzmann constant (W/(m2 K4))
q specific humidity (kg/kg(DA)) sk,se constants in the turbulent equation
QC conductive heat (W/m2) st constant in the turbulent equation
Qw water flux (kg/(m2 s)) f water content ratio (m3/m3)
SL distance between ceramic pipe lines (m) f average water content ratio (m3/m3)
Sm cross section area of the ceramic pipe (m2) u surface wet ratio
ST distance between ceramic pipes at the same line (m)
t time (s) Subscripts
T temperature (K) a air
T0 reference temperature (K) c ceramics
Ts surface temperature (K) i windward side
Tsw surface temperature of the ceramic pipe in the shade o leeward side
(K) w water
V volumetric rate

of the PECW. These cooling effects would result in the formation of
cooler microclimates around the PECW.
To optimize the layout of PECWs during design, it requires
a quantitative understanding of the above-mentioned cooling
effects from the application of PECWs. In response to this need, the
present study was aimed at developing a simulation system as
a design aid to provide quantitative predictions and evaluations of
the microclimate in urban locations where PECW installation is
under consideration. This paper details the methodology of the
developed simulation system, and describes thermal modeling for
predicting the surface temperature and evaporation of the PECW.
Furthermore, the paper will also present estimation methods to
obtain the values of various parameters (such as solar reflectance
and conductivity of the PECW, etc.) and the relations between them
for the simulation. A comparison study will be conducted to validate
the methodology for simulating the surface temperature of the
PECW. In addition, in order to demonstrate the applicability of the
developed simulation system, a case study will be carried out to
predict and evaluate the microclimate in a rest station where PECWs
is supposed to be installed.
2. Methodology
2.1. Development concepts of the simulation system
In order to predict the microclimatic modifying effects of PECWs, it
is required to simulate spatial distributions of surface temperature, air
temperature, airflow and moisture. A coupled simulation including
heat transfer, airflow and mass movement could provide these pre-
dicted results. From the viewpoint of design support, to develop
a simulation tool which can be performed with low calculation load
on a PC would be one of most important points. Thus, the author has
586 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596
Fig. 1. Photo of the PECW unit and schematic description of cooling effects from the
PECW.
selected a 3D-CAD-based thermal simulation tool [3] which has been
integrated into a commercial 3D-CAD software (VectorWorks) on
a PC. As a thermal design tool, a Japanese-version of this thermal
simulation tool called ThermoRender has been commercially avail-
able in Japan since 2006. Using this simulation tool, detailed spatial
forms of buildings and urban surface materials can be reproduced
with 3D-CAD models, and their thermal effects can be quantified. As
a shortcoming, however, it cannot be used to simulate airflow. This
leads to the development of a coupled simulation method which can
provide simulated results of not only surface temperature but also
airflow (air temperature, velocity, humidity).
2.2. Simulation system structure
The developed simulation system consists of two subsystems
(simulation tools): (1) a CFD (computation fluid dynamics) simu-
lation software and (2) the 3D-CAD-based thermal simulation tool
mentioned above. Each subsystem can be independently per-
formed and the simulated results of one subsystem are used as
input data for the other subsystem. The process of the coupled
simulation is outlined in Fig. 2. The first step is to create 3D-CAD
Fig. 2. Flowchart of the coupled simulation process.
models for buildings, trees and other structures in the analyzed
area using CAD software (VectorWorks). The 3D-CAD models are
output for CFD simulation. An airflow simulation for a selected time
is performed using the CFD simulation software under a steady-
state and constant-temperature condition. From this CFD simula-
tion (called the first CFD simulation), air velocities at the first grid
near solid surfaces (buildings and other structures surfaces) are
output and used as boundary conditions for the thermal simulation.
The thermal simulation is performed with the thermal simulation
tool under the assumption that air temperature and velocity are
uniformly distributed in the analyzed space at the un-selected time,
and their values are given from input weather data. From this
thermal simulation, simulated results of surface temperatures and
evaporation are output and used as boundary conditions for
the second CFD simulation in which spatial distributions of air
temperature, air velocity and humidity are simulated. Furthermore,
thermal comfort indexes (MRT, SET*) can also be calculated from
the above simulation results.
Fig. 3 presents a schematic description of data transfer between
the thermal simulation and CFD simulation for the PECW. The first
CFD simulation is performed using a vertical profile of inflow
velocity as input data. From this CFD simulation, air velocities at the
first grid near the PECW surfaces are obtained and output as the
data for the calculation of convective heat transfer coefficients in
the thermal simulation. PECW surface temperatures and evapora-
tion are obtained from the thermal simulation. Then these simu-
lated results are output as boundary conditions of the PECW for the
second CFD simulation.
2.3. Thermal simulation
The thermal simulation is performed using 3D-CAD models for
buildings, trees and other structures in the analyzed area. Three-
dimensional spatial forms of the buildings, trees, etc., and two-
dimensional ground surfaces are divided into mesh grids, and
thermophysical data of construction materials such as albedo and
conductivity and solar transmittance are assigned to the grids.
Uniform mesh grids are used in the thermal simulation. The
external surface temperature for each mesh can be determined by
solving a non-steady-state one-dimensional heat balance equation
in normal to the surface. This simulation program has been inte-
grated into the CAD software (VectorWorks) on a PC. A detailed
description of the simulation methodology can be found in the
previous paper [3].
Surface temperatures and evaporation of the PECW are simu-
lated using the thermal simulation tool in which the simulation
algorism proposed in this study has been integrated.
2.4. CFD simulation
The CFD simulation is performed with a commercial CFD code
(STREAM). Three-dimensional turbulent airflow is given by Rey-
nolds averaged NaviereStokes equations (RANS) [4e9]. The gov-
erning flow equations (Eqs. (1e6)) are listed in Table 1 and solved
with the SIMPLE algorithm [10]. A numerical scheme (QUICK) [11]
was used in solving the governing equations. The turbulence model
used in this study is an improved kee model (LaundereKato model)
[12] which was introduced to improve overestimation of turbulent
kinetic energy around windward corners, etc.
2.5. Thermal comfort index
As a thermal comfort index, SET* (new standard effective
temperature) [13] which incorporates six basic human thermal
environmental parameters (air and radiant temperature, humidity,
 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596 587

Fig. 3. Schematic description of data transfer between the surface temperature simulation and CFD simulation.

air velocity, activity level and clothing) was used to evaluate thermal evaporation from the PECW may be calculated by Eq. (9). Eq. (10) is
comfort in an outdoor environment. To adapt SET* to the outdoor the energy balance (heat conduction) equation inside the ceramic
environment irradiated by both shortwave (solar) and long-wave material of the PECW. The PECW surface temperature can be
(infrared) radiation, a mean radiant temperature (MRT*) [14,15] for obtained by solving Eq. (10) using Eqs. (7,8) as boundary conditions.
outdoor environments was used in the calculation of SET*. SET* was In addition, thermophysical parameters (albedo, conductivity,
calculated with the program based on the human body heat balance specific heat and evaporation efficiency) for the PECW should be
model (2-node model) proposed by Gagge et al. [16]. considered as a function of water content. Methods for estimating
these parameters are described in Section 3.3.
3. Numerical modeling of the PECW

vT
l j ¼ as Rs þ es RL  sTs4 þ hc ðTa  Ts Þ  lE (7)
3.1. Energy balance model vx x¼0

Tjx¼d ¼ Tsw (8)

The PECW surface exposed to the sun can be modeled as illus-
trated in Fig. 4(a). The energy flow at a node of the PECW surface is hc
shown in Fig. 4(b), and its energy balance equation can be E ¼ b ðXs  Xa Þ (9)
cm
expressed as Eq. (7). The surface temperature of the wet PECW
surface in the shade can be considered to be equal to the wet-bulb
vT l v2 T
temperature (WBT), i.e., Tsw z WBT. This relation has been ¼ (10)
confirmed from experimental data [1,2]. The rate of water vt cr vz2

Table 1 3.2. Water balance model

Governing flow equations and turbulence model.
A ceramic pipe can be divided into equal increments (grids) in
Continuity equation
the z (height) direction, as shown in Fig. 5. The water balance
vui equation for a grid (grid i) can be written by Eq. (11). The left term of
¼ 0 (1)
vxi this equation represents the variation of water content within the
Momentum equation grid. The first right term represents the increase of water content by
!! water absorption (capillary attraction), and the second right term
vrui vuj rui vp v vui vuj
þ ¼  þ ðm þ mt Þ þ  rgi hðT  T0 Þ (2) represents the reduction of water content by water evaporation.
vt vxi vxi vxi vxj vxi

Turbulent energy transport equation vf

  Am $Sm $rw ¼ Wi  Ei $Am (11)
vrk vui rk v mt vk vt
þ ¼ þ GS þ GT  re (3)
vt vxi vxi sk vxi
The water absorbed by capillary attraction can be considered to
Turbulent dissipation rate equation move only in the height (z) direction, so that the water flux (Qw) in
 
 the ceramic pipe can be expressed as Eq. (12).
vre vui re v mt ve e re2
þ ¼ þ C1 ðGS þ GT Þ 1 þ C3 Rf  C2 (4)
vt vxi vxi se vxi k k

vu vuj vui mt vT GT a b
GS ¼ mt ð i þ Þ GT ¼ gi h Rf ¼ 
vxj vxi vxj st vxi GS þ GT

Energy conservation equation

!
vrcp T vuj rcp T v vT
þ ¼ ðl þ lt Þ (5)
vt vxj vxj vxj
mt cp
lt ¼ ; Prt ¼ 0:9
Prt
Absolute humidity transport equation
!
vq vuj q v vq
þ ¼ Dm (6)
vt vxj vxj vxj

Turbulence model (LaundereKato model)

sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
k2 k2 1 vui vuj 2 1 vui vuj 2
G S ¼ Cm SU mt ¼ Cm r S ¼ ð þ Þ U¼ ð  Þ
e e 2 vxj vxi 2 vxj vxi
Cm ¼ 0.09, C1 ¼ 1.44, C2 ¼ 1.92, C3 ¼ 0.0, sk ¼ 1.0, se ¼ 1.3, st ¼ 0.9 Fig. 4. (a) Thermal model for the simulation of the PECW surface temperature. (b)
Energy flow paths at the PECW surface exposed to the sun.
588 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596

0.6

y = -0.14x + 0.53

Solar reflectance
0.5

0.4

0.3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Surface wet ratio

Fig. 7. Correlation between the solar reflectance and surface wet ratio.

Fig. 5. Schematic description of water flow paths for a ceramic pipe.

The absorbed water (Wp) for a ceramic pipe can be calculated by

the following equation:
vf vT
Qw ¼ rw Kw þ rw Df þ rw DT (12)
vz vz
Wp ¼ Qw Sm (14)
The amount of water soaked by the gradient of water content
and pipe’s temperature is too small to be negligible in this case, The amount of water supplied to each grid can be calculated as
because vertical cylindrical pores were prepared in the ceramic follows:
pipe and vertical capillary attraction is the dominant force to soak
up water. In addition, experimental results [1,2] have shown that If Wp  E1, W1 ¼ Wp and Wi ¼ 0 for i ¼ 2 to n.
there was a slight difference in the vertical surface temperature of If Wp > E1 and Wp  E1 þ E2, W1 ¼ E1, W2 ¼ Wp  W1 and Wi ¼ 0
a moist ceramic pipe. Therefore, the second and third terms of Eq. for i ¼ 3 to n.
(12) can be omitted. Eq. (12) becomes: If Wp > E1 and Wp  E1 þ E2 þ E3, W1 ¼ E1, W2 ¼ E2,
W3 ¼ Wp  W1  W2 and Wi ¼ 0 for i ¼ 4 to n.
Qw ¼ rw Kw (13) .

Performing the above calculation from i ¼ 1 to n would yield the

quantity of water supplied to each grid. Employing the values of the
absorbed and evaporated water (W, E) for each grid, the value of
water content (f) could be determined by Eq. (11).

3.3. Estimation of simulation parameters

3.3.1. Solar reflectance

The solar reflectance of the ceramic pipe was measured in the
laboratory. Fig. 6 is an example of measurement results of the
reflectance for the ceramic pipe in three wet conditions. The values
of water content for these three conditions are (1) 1.0 (completely
wet), (2) 0.47 and (3) 0 (completely dry), respectively. The sensitive
wavelength range of the instrument (spectroradiometer) used in the
measurement is from 190 nm to 2500 nm. The solar reflectance of
the ceramic pipe in the three wet conditions could be estimated from
the measurement results indicated in Fig. 6. According to charac-
teristics of the typical solar energy that reaches the Earth’s surface
on a clear summer day, the spectral reflectance used in the estima-
tion was normalized over wavelengths from 250 nm to 2500 nm.
From a linear regression analysis, the relation between the solar

Fig. 6. Measurement results of solar reflectance for the ceramic pipe in different wet
conditions. Fig. 8. Schematics of a flow across the PECW.
 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596 589

Evaporation efficiency (-)

0.8

0.6
y = 0.183ln(x) +1
0.4

0.2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Surface wet ratio (-)
Fig. 9. (a) Correlation between the average convection coefficient and inflow velocity.
(b) Reduction ratio of the average convection coefficient with inflow angle. Fig. 10. Correlation between the evaporation efficiency and surface wet ratio.

reflectance and surface wet ratio can be obtained, as shown in Fig. 7. a scatter plot of hcp versus Ui, which was prepared using experi-
As seen in this figure, the former is in inverse proportion to the latter, mental values. The regression analysis yields the relation between
i.e., the dryer the ceramic pipe is, the higher its solar reflectance is. hcp and Ui in the form:

3.3.2. Convection coefficient hcp ¼ 22:63Ui (19)

The surface convection coefficient of the ceramic pipe is calcu-
Eq. (19) is an empirical formula for a flow in normal to the PECW
lated from Eq. (15). The Nusselt number Nu for the front surface of
surface, being applicable for the range of Ui < 7 m/s. Experimental
a cylinder is given by an empirical formula, i.e., Eq. (16) [17,18].
data for airflow with an angle to the normal direction of the PECW
surface shown a trend that hcp decreased with the increase of
Nula
hc ¼ (15) inflow angle, as illustrated in Fig. 9(b). The values of various
D
constants (such as Ap, NT, ST, etc.) used in the analysis are provided
 0:5 in Table 2.
U
Nu ¼ 0:746 D (16)
n 3.3.3. Thermal conductivity and specific heat
Considering a flow passing through a PECW as illustrated in The thermal conductivity for the moist ceramic pipe should be
Fig. 8, the energy balance equation for the passing air can be considered as a function of water content, and can be estimated from
written by the thermal conductivity for a three phased material, as expressed
by Eq. (20) [19]:
cpa ra NT ST Ui ðTao  Tai Þ ¼ hcp Ap ðTsw  0:5ðTai þ Tao ÞÞ (17)
Rearranging Eq. (17), the average convection coefficient (hcp) for l ¼ ð1=Vc ÞðVa =ðVa þVw ÞÞ $ðlc $Vc þ lw ð1  Vc ÞÞVc $lVww $lVa a (20)
the PECW can be expressed as where Vc þ Va þ Vw ¼ 1
The specific heat per unit volume (cr) for the moist ceramic pipe
cpa ra NT ST Ui ðTao  Tai Þ
hcp ¼ (18) may also be considered to be a function of water content, and can
Ap ðTsw  0:5ðTao þ Tai ÞÞ
be determined by the following formula (Eq. (21)):
Applying measured results of Tai, Tao, Tsw, Ui to Eq. (18), the
relation between hcp and Ui can be obtained. Fig. 9(a) shows cr ¼ cc rc Vc þ cw rw Vw þ ca ra Va (21)

Table 2
Values of various parameters used in the analysis.

Ap 6.355 m2/m
D 0.046 m
la 0.03 W/(m K)
lc 8.32 W/(m K)
lw 0.61 W/(m K)
ra 1.18 kg/m3 (300 K)
SL 0.068 m
NL 4
ca 1.02 kJ/(kg K)
cc 780 kJ/(kg K)
cw 4180 kJ/(kg K)
rc 1290 kg/m3
ST 0.103 m
NT 11
Va 0.47 Vw
Vc 0.53
Vw ¼ 0.47f*
rw 996.63 kg/m3 (300 K)
Fig. 11. (a) Photos of the test ceramic pipe and its segments. (b) Correlation between
*:f is given by Eq. (11). surface wet ratio and water content for the test ceramic pipe.
590 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596

Fig. 12. Correlation between hydraulic conductivity and water content.

3.3.4. Evaporation efficiency

The correlation between the evaporation efficiency and surface
wet ratio for the ceramic pipe was investigated in the following
experiment. A test ceramic pipe was placed in an indoor environ-
ment where air temperature, humidity and airflow were stable.
The surface temperature, surface wet ratio, rate of evaporation
for the test ceramic pipe and the environmental parameters were
measured under different wet conditions. Applying these measured
data to Eq. (9), a scatter plot was obtained as shown in Fig. 10. The
regression analysis gives the relation between the evaporation
efficiency and surface wet ratio in the following form: Fig. 14. (a) A photo and (b) simulation model of the test PECW unit.

b ¼ 0:183lnðuÞ þ 1:0 (22)

3.3.6. Hydraulic conductivity
The hydraulic conductivity (Kw) can be estimated by applying
3.3.5. Surface wet ratio and water content experimental values of Wp to Eqs. (13,14). The measurement
The water content (f) of the ceramic pipe in a unit length is methods and experimental results for Wp have been described in
defined as follows: our previous paper [2]. Fig. 12 shows a scatter plot of Kw versus the
Pn
average water content ðf ¼ i ¼ 1 fi Þ. This figure was prepared
WT  WD
f¼ (23) using the measured data for several sunny summer days. From
WS  WD Fig. 12, it was found that the values of Kw lie between 2.1  106 m/s
Here WT represents the weight of the ceramic pipe at a time, WD and 4.3  106 m/s, and its average value was 3.2  106 m/s. It can
is the weight in the completely dry condition and WS is the weight also be found that there was no strong correlation between Kw and
in the saturated condition. f. For simplicity, the average value of Kw was used as the input data
After measuring the surface wet ratio (u), the test ceramic pipe of Kw for the prediction of Wp in this study.
was cut to be 10 equal segments in the height direction as shown in
Fig. 11(a). Using the measured values of WT, WD and WS for each 3.3.7. Friction coefficient
segment, the water content (f) can be computed from Eq. (23). For a flow cross the PECW as shown in Fig. 8, the friction coef-
Fig. 11(b) shows a scatter plot of u versus f. From this figure, a linear ficient of the PECW is defined as:
regression was obtained in the form: pi  po
Cf ¼ 2 (25)
u ¼ 0:89f (24) ra Ui2

Hourly weather data *: Wind speeds for the selected times

(air temp., wind speed*,solar radiation, etc) are given from the CFD simulation

Time-step i
Evaporation efficiency
Surface wet ratio
Solving non-steady one- Solar absorptance
dimensional heat Time-step i
balance equation Thermal conductivity
Water content
Specific heat

Evaporation Water absorbed by the ceramic pipe

Time-step i+1
Surface temperature

Fig. 13. Simulation algorism of PECW surface temperature and evaporation. Fig. 15. Input weather data (Aug. 27, 2009) used in the comparison study.
 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596 591

Fig. 16. Simulation results of surface temperature distribution for 9:00, 12:00 and 15:00 h on a sunny summer day (August 27, 2009).

The friction coefficients for the x and y direction can be given by
applying the formulas for a staggered tube bank in the forms of Eq.
(26) and Eq. (27) [20,21], respectively.
Cfx ¼ 4NL CD
where CD ¼ 0.75 Re0.2, Re ¼ ((SL  D)/y)Uix
Cfy ¼ 4ðNL  1ÞCD
where CD ¼ 0.75 Re0.2, Re ¼ ((SL  D)/y)Uiy
3.4. Validation of the surface temperature simulation
Fig. 13 demonstrates the proposed simulation algorism of the
PECW surface temperature and evaporation at a time-step. Input
weather conditions are given from hourly weather data for the
targeted location. Wind speeds for the selected times are given
from the CFD simulation. To validate this simulation algorism,
a comparison study was carried out to examine the correlation
between simulated and measured surface temperatures of the
PECW. The simulated surface temperatures of the PECW were
obtained using the thermal simulation tool in which the simulation
algorism indicated in Fig. 13 has been integrated.
Measurements of the PECW surface temperature were con-
ducted using a PECW unit. During the measurement, the test PECW
unit (unit B) was mounted to face south as shown in Fig. 14(a). This
PECW unit was modeled as Fig. 14(b). As an example, results of
a comparison study for a sunny summer day (August 27, 2009) are
described below.
Fig. 15 is a graph of input weather data in which the values
of direct and sky solar radiation were estimated from the measured
results of total horizontal solar radiation. Under the weather condi-
tions, a surface temperature simulation was performed. The mesh
(26) size for this simulation was set at 0.1 m.
Fig. 16 presents simulated results of surface temperature
distributions for three daytime hours (9:00, 12:00 and 15:00). From
this figure, it can be seen that the temperature of the south-facing
(27) surface was about 25  C, 27  C and 26  C for 9:00, 12:00 and 15:00,
respectively. Measured and simulated surface temperatures for the
comparison point are shown in Fig. 17. As can be seen from Fig. 17
(a), the simulated values agreed well with the measured results
for the nighttime, whereas the former shown a slightly higher value
than the latter for the daytime. Nevertheless, as can be understood
from Fig. 17(b), the simulated results were in agreement with the
measured data within a range of 2  C throughout the day.
4. Case study
To demonstrate the availability of the developed simulation
system, an actual rest station was selected as an analysis object. A
coupled simulation was carried out in a scenario that PECWs were
supposed to be installed in the rest station.
4.1. The analysis object
Fig. 18(a) is a photo of the rest station looked from the West. A
one-storey building with a meeting room and a roof-covered tea
room are located at the north and south end of the location,
respectively. The walls of the tea room were constructed of void

a b

Fig. 17. (a) Variations of simulated and measured surface temperature. (b) Correlation between simulated and measured surface temperature.
592 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596
Fig. 18. (a) A photo of the actual rest station from West. (b) A northwest view of the
3D-CAD model for the rest station where PECWs were installed.
bricks, and the roof was a bamboo blind. A tree with a height of 7 m
was growing at the center of the rest station. This rest station was
modeled in a scenario that its fences and tea room’s walls were
constructed with PECWs as shown in Fig. 18(b). The plan and east
section of the rest station are illustrated in Fig. 19(a) and Fig. 19(b),
respectively.
4.2. Simulation conditions
The coupled simulation was performed using hourly meteoro-
logical data for a typical sunny summer day (August 5, 2000) in
Tokyo. The input weather data was prepared based on Expanded
AMeDAS Weather Data provided by Architectural Institute of Japan
(AIJ). The reasons for selecting this day are as follows: (1) the
maximum and minimum of air temperature are over 30  C and
25  C respectively (hot day and night), (2) low wind speeds (below
3 m/s) throughout the day and (3) high solar radiation intensity
(clear sky) during the daytime. Fig. 20 presents diurnal variations of
air temperature, relative humidity, wind direction, wind speed,
Fig. 19. (a) Plan and (b) East section of the rest station where PECWs were installed.
Fig. 20. Meteorological data for a sunny summer day (Aug. 5) in Tokyo.
total horizontal solar radiation and nocturnal radiation. Table 3 lists
thermophysical properties of construction materials used in the
surface temperature simulation.
As inflow conditions for the CFD simulation, a power-law was
applied to the vertical distribution of inflow velocity and turbulent
energy. The power-law exponent was set at 0.25 for the urban area.
Boundary conditions for the CFD simulation are summarized in
Table 4. In addition, the simulation system is not applicable for
the following inflow conditions: (1) inflow relative humidity is
extremely high (above 90%) and (2) inflow velocity is below 0.2 m/s
or over 7 m/s.
Air resistance, turbulence generation and dissipation of the tree
were taken into account by applying a canopy model [23] to the k
and e equations. The leaf area density was considered to be uniform,
and an average value (4.5 m2/m3) was used in the simulation. The
drag and shading coefficient of the tree were assumed to be 0.6 and
0.8, respectively.
Fig. 21 shows grid structure, computational domains of the CFD
simulation and coupled simulation, etc. The CFD simulation was
performed under the condition that surrounding buildings and
other structures (trees, etc.) were not taken into account, and the
atmosphere was in a neutral condition. The convergence residuals
were set at 105, so that the computing time for a single CFD
simulation was approximately 20 h with a desktop PC (its CPU
specifications: Intel Core 2 Duo, 3 GHz, 8 GB RAM).
4.3. Simulation results
Simulation results for the noon (12:00) and afternoon (15:00,
16:00) hours were used for the following discussions. The reasons
for selecting these times are: (1) the solar altitude is the maximum
and the shadow on the ground is the minimum at noon, and (2) the
 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596 593

Table 3
Thermophysical properties of construction materials used in the simulation.

Location Component Thickness Albedo Conductivity cr (kJ/

materials (mm) (W/(m K)) (m3 K))
Concrete roof Mortar 30 0.3 1.50 1600
Polystyrene 50 0.04 40
Concrete 100 0.16 1900

Concrete wall Concrete 150 0.3 1.60 1900

Bamboo blind Wood 1 0.3 0.12 716

Air layer 5 0.09 1
Wood 1 0.12 716

Brick-paved Brick 60 0.1 0.73 1400

ground Sand 30 0.50 1400
Gravel 100 0.60 1500
Earth 400 0.61 1582

Asphalt-paved Asphalt 130 0.1 0.73 1950

ground Mortar 200 1.50 1600
Gravel 300 0.60 1500
Earth 400 0.61 1582

Concrete-paved Concrete 70 0.3 1.60 879

ground Gravel 100 1.50 1500 Fig. 21. Grid structure and computational domain in the CFD simulation.
Earth 400 0.60 1582

Window Glass 6 0.07 0.78 1913

went up to a temperature around 40  C at 15:00, as shown in
PECW cover Stainless 2 0.3 53.00 3800 Fig. 23. The PECW surface exposed to direct solar radiation was at
PECW water tank PVC 8 0.3 0.16 1330 about 30  C and lower than ambient air temperature by 2  C.
Water 300 0.60 4186 Moreover, surface temperatures of the PECW shaded by the tree
PVC 8 0.16 1330 were lowered to about 25  C.

4.3.2. Air temperature, velocity and humidity

solar radiation to the vertical (wall) surface is peak at these after- As seen from the upper graph of Fig. 20, the prevailing wind was
noon times. In addition, the values of meteorological elements (air blowing from the East and Southeast during daytime. Thus, the CFD
temperature, velocity, etc.) and thermal indexes at a height of 1.2 m simulation results for 12:00 and 16:00 were used for the discussion
above the ground were used to evaluate thermal comfort for and provided in Fig. 24. At 12:00, the wind was from the East at
a person in the rest station. a speed of 1.1 m/s at 6.5 m height (0.9 m/s at 1.2 m height). Fig. 24(a)
is a horizontal distribution of air temperature and velocity at
4.3.1. Surface temperature distribution a height of 1.2 m above the ground at 12:00. No significant reduc-
The surface temperature distribution for 12:00 is shown in tions were found in air velocity on the leeward sides of PECWs.
Fig. 22. From this figure, it can be seen that surface temperatures of
the brick-covered ground in the tree shade were around 35  C, being
more than 10  C lower than that for the un-shaded ground. At this
time, the PECW surfaces were not irradiated by direct solar radiation
so that their temperatures were kept around 25  C due to evapora-
tion cooling effect. The external and internal surface temperatures of
the bamboo blind reached above 55  C and 40  C, respectively. The
ground surface in the tea room was at a temperature slightly lower
than ambient air temperature (32.9  C), as seen in the lower thermal
image of Fig. 22.
In the afternoon, the west-facing walls were exposed to direct
solar radiation so that the west-facing wall constructed of concrete

Table 4
Input boundary conditions for the CFD simulation.

Dimension 35 m (X)  20.5 m (Y)  15 m (Z)

Grid number 200 (X)  143 (Y)  89 (Z) ¼ 3,436,290
The grid size is uniform (0.1 m) within the domain of
the coupled simulation and non-uniform (magnified at
a ratio of 1.1) outside of the domain.
Solid surfaces Non-slip
Top and sides of Free-slip
simulation domain
Surface convection Given by air velocity (U) at the first grid close to
coefficient the non-PECW surface based on Jürges’ equation [22]
pffiffiffiffiffiffi
Inflow boundary U ¼ U0(Z/Z0)0.25, k ¼ (SU)2, e ¼ 0:25 Cm S2 U 2 =ðZ  Z0 Þ
Z0 ¼ 6.5 m, S ¼ 0.35, Cm ¼ 0.09, U0 ¼ velocity (m/s) at Z0
Outflow boundary Free
Fig. 22. Simulation results of surface temperature distribution at 12:00.
594 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596
Fig. 23. Simulation results of surface temperature distribution at 15:00.
Moreover a temperature reduction of about 1.5  C was found in air
temperature on the leeward side of the PECW which is located in
the east end of the rest station. Air temperatures inside the tea
room were about 0.5  C lower than those in the outdoor location
exposed the sun. A significant reduction of 2e3  C in air temper-
ature was found on the leeward sides of the south and west walls
outside the tea room.
Fig. 24(b) presents a horizontal distribution of air temperature
and velocity for 16:00. At this time, a southeast wind was blowing
at a speed of 2.2 m/s at 6.5 m height (1.4 m/s at 1.2 m height). Air
velocities decreased slightly after passing through the PECW. An air
temperature reduction of about 1  C was found on the leeward side
of the PECW which is located in the east end of the rest station. It
can be noted that a cooler space was formed at the corner between
the south and west wall inside the tea room, and its air temperature
Fig. 24. Simulation results of air temperature and velocity at 1.2 m height above the
ground at (a) 12:00 and (b) 16:00.
Fig. 25. Simulation results of absolute humidity at 1.2 m height above the ground at (a)
12:00 and (b) 16:00.
was approximately 1  C lower than ambient (inflow) air tempera-
ture. Furthermore the air near the outside surface of the west
wall of the tea room was cooled down to 28  C lower than inflow
air by about 2  C. An examination of the above-mentioned results
revealed that airflow could be cooled by around 2  C lower after
passing through two rows of the PECW under the weather condi-
tions shown in Fig. 20.
Fig. 25 is simulation results of absolute humidity distribution for
12:00 and 16:00 at a level of 1.2 m above the ground. As given from
the thermal simulation results for 12:00, the rate of water evapo-
ration for a PECW unit was 5.7 g/s on an average. At this time, the
values of absolute humidity in the outdoor location of the rest
station were 17e18 g/kg higher than inflow air (14.8 g/kg) by about
2e3 g/kg, as shown in Fig. 25(a). The absolute humidity inside the
tea room shown a higher value and exceeded 19 g/kg. It can be
noted that higher values of absolute humidity occurred in the
locations near the PECW surfaces on the leeward side of the south
and west wall of the tea room. It can also be found that moisture
would be accumulated in the outdoor location near the west-facing
wall of the meeting room where air velocities were extremely low.
4.3.3. Thermal comfort index
Fig. 26 shows horizontal distributions of three thermal sensa-
tion indexes: (a) mean radiant temperature (MRT), (b) outdoor
mean radiant temperature (MRT*) for a point which may be irra-
diated by solar radiation and (c) new standard effective tempera-
ture (SET*) for a point which may be irradiated by solar radiation.
As seen in Fig. 26(a), MRTs in the tea room were more than 2  C
higher than ambient air temperature at 12:00. This is because the
internal surface temperature of the roof was at a high temperature
above 40  C, as revealed by the lower thermograph of Fig. 22. From
Fig. 26(b), it can be seen that MRT*s in the outdoor location exposed
to the sun exceeded 45  C, whereas MRT*s in the outdoor location
 J. He / Building and Environment 46 (2011) 584e596
Fig. 26. Simulation results of (a) MRT, (b) MRT* and (c) SET* at 1.2 m height above the
ground at 12:00.
near the PECW was at a lower temperature of 40  C. It can be
understood that an increase of more than 10  C in the MRT*
resulted from solar radiation by comparing the values of MRT with
those of MRT* at the same outdoor location. In addition, the MRT*
in the tree shade was around 40  C, whereas the MRT* near the
PECW surface shaded by the tree was reduced to a temperature
nearly equal to inflow air temperature (32.9  C).
Fig. 26(c) was prepared using the values of SET* calculated on
the assumption that a person with a metabolism of 1.5 met (slowly
walking or standing) and a clothing of 0.5 clo (wearing a short-
sleeved shirt and trousers) was in the rest station. The SET* inside
the tea room was around 31  C lower than inflow air temperature
by 1e2  C. The SET* in the outdoor location near the PECW surface
shaded by the tree was slightly lower than inflow air temperature,
whereas the former in the outdoor location exposed to the sun was
as high as 36  C higher than the latter by about 3  C.
5. Conclusions
As a passive cooling strategy to control the increase of urban
surface temperatures and create cooler environments in urban loca-
tions, the author’s research group has developed a passive evaporative
595
cooling wall (PECW) constructed of porous pipe-shaped ceramics
with high water soaking-up ability. In response to the need of urban
designers to optimize the layout of PECWs during design, the author
has developed a simulation system as a design support tool for
predicting and evaluating the microclimate in urban locations
where PECW installation was under consideration.
The developed simulation system consists of two simulation
tools: a CFD simulation tool and a 3D-CAD-based thermal simula-
tion tool which has been integrated in a commercial 3D-CAD
software (VectorWorks). An algorism to couple these simulation
tools was developed and presented in this paper. Numerical models
for predicting surface temperatures and evaporation of PECWs
were proposed based on experimental results, and the values of
model parameters were determined using experimental data.
Validation of the proposed numerical models was confirmed by
conducting a comparison study. From this comparison study, it was
found that simulated surface temperatures of the PECW agreed
well with measured data, and their differences were below 2  C
under the weather conditions of a sunny summer day.
In order to demonstrate the applicability of the developed
simulation system, a case study was then performed to predict and
evaluate the microclimate in a rest station where PECWs were
supposed to be installed. Spatial distributions of air temperature,
airflow, moisture and surface temperature in the rest station were
simulated under a sunny weather condition in the summer of Tokyo.
From simulation results of the above environmental parameters,
thermal comfort indexes (outdoor MRT and SET*) can also be esti-
mated. Furthermore, simulation results of all parameters mentioned
above can be visualized in color images. From these images,
a designer can easily understand where was cooled, what degrees
air temperature could be reduced in the targeted location.
In conclusion, the developed simulation system presented in this
paper is capable of providing quantitative predictions of the micro-
climate in the urban locations where PECWs were installed, in terms
of air temperature, air velocity, humidity and surface temperature
distribution. Thermal comfort improving effects resulting from
the implementation of PECWs can also be evaluated in terms of
mean radiant temperature (MRT) and new standard effective
temperature (SET*).
Acknowledgement
The author wish to acknowledge the New Energy and Industrial
Technology Development Organization of Japan (NEDO) for sup-
porting this work. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to
Professor Hoyano Akira (Tokyo Institute of Technology) for his
comments and suggestions during this study.
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