Rapid urbanization, increasing demand for indoor thermal

The gap

Evidence profile

Sourced from the recommendations and limitations and stated research gap of the source papers, classified as general, spanning 3 journals.

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Microclimate informed design criteria for enhanced building thermal performance (2026) · Frontiers in Built Environment · doi

  presented here should be interpreted as case-specific to the investigated residential building in Dehradun rather than universally applicable values. Nevertheless, the integrated modelling framework is transferable to other cities following appropriate local calibration, providing a practical methodology for incorporating neighbourhood scale climatic information into building design and urban planning. numerical design the ENVI-met analysis, RSM-based building simulations, and TRNSYS The principal scientific contribution of this work lies in the integration of four established approaches—LCZ classification, urban CFD-based morphology thermal modelling—within a unified analytical framework. While these techniques have previously been applied independently, their sequential integration establishes a quantitative pathway linking urban morphology, neighbourhood microclimate, and building thermal performance. This integrated approach advances beyond descriptive urban climate assessment by translating localized climatic variations into actionable building- and neighbourhood- scale design guidance, thereby addressing an important gap identified and building recent urban microclimate in energy research. Several limitations should be acknowledged. First, the optimization was performed for a single residential building typology in Dehradun and therefore should not be generalized to other building types or climatic regions without further validation. Second, the weather morphing procedure modified solar radiation and wind speed while retaining measured air temperature and relative humidity. Although this approach captured the dominant radiative and aerodynamic effects of urban morphology, localized variations in air temperature were not explicitly represented. Sensitivity analysis indicated that moderate temperature perturbations affected the magnitude of heat transfer but did not alter the principal conclusion that neighbourhood-scale reductions in solar exposure increase the optimum window-to-wall ratio. Future studies should therefore adopt that fully coupled weather morphing procedures simultaneously account for radiation, wind, temperature, and humidity. Third, ENVI-met simulations relied on previously validated modelling procedures rather than site-specific field measurements, and the optimization focused primarily on thermal performance without explicitly considering daylight availability, occupant energy consumption, or uncertainty. Incorporating field validation, multiple building typologies, long-term simulations, outdoor thermal comfort metrics, uncertainty quantification, and future climate scenarios would further strengthen the applicability of the proposed framework. comfort, annual thermal the employ response reduced-order Although the summer solar-radiation response surface achieved a high coefficient of determination (R2 = 94.63%), its relatively low Predicted R2 indicates limited predictive capability beyond the calibration dataset. Consequently, the optimized summer radiation values should be interpreted as indicative trends within the investigated design space rather than precise quantitative predictions. Nevertheless, the surface, ENVI-met consistency between simulations, and the observed physical behaviour supports its application for comparative design analysis. Future work surfaces should and improve predictive independent validation datasets robustness. Overall, that neighbourhood microclimate should be considered an integral component of climate-responsive building design rather than merely an external environmental boundary condition. By quantitatively linking urban morphology, thermal performance within a unified modelling framework, the study provides a scientifically robust and transferable methodology for integrating neighbourhood-scale climatic information into urban planning and building design while recognizing that the resulting design recommendations remain specific to the investigated case study. localized microclimate, and building response to study demonstrates this

  generalrecommendations
  Keywords: building design urban neighbourhood thermal rather modelling framework scale climatic simulations morphology microclimate radiation temperature
• Assessing seasonal building thermal adaptation through the acclimatization distance: a GIS-based machine learning framework (2026) · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · doi

  This study introduces accd as a novel comfort-oriented metric that quantifies the thermal gradient between outdoor climatic conditions and adaptive comfort temperature. Different from conventional energy performance indicators, accd provides a scalable and interpretable measure of the climatic effort required to maintain comfortable indoor conditions under variable environmental stressors. By bridging building-level assessments with urban-scale climate dynamics, this metric enables new forms of comfort-based mapping and comparative analysis across cities, addressing a critical gap in current assessment frameworks that abstract buildings from their climatic and urban conoffers a relevant contribution because it text. Methodologically, accd formulates adaptive comfort as a continuous thermal gradient, enabling consistent comparison of climatic and morphological influences across seasons and under different urban scenarios. Beyond the metric itself, a key methodological contribution lies in the quantification of seasonal asymmetry in the determinants of adaptive comfort at urban scale. The framework reveals how the relative influence of morphological versus intrinsic building factors varies between cooling and heating periods, providing evidence of the dual, season-dependent nature of thermal adaptation. This capacity to characterize seasonal transitions in comfort drivers represents a significant advance over single-season or annual-average approaches. However, several limitations must be acknowledged. First, the study relies on EPC data, which is subject to the well-documented performance gap between certified efficiency and actual in-use performance. Second, comfort temperatures were calculated theoretically using the ASHRAE adaptive model, but the entire calculation chain lacks empirical validation against monitored indoor conditions. This introduces potential discrepancies between predicted and actual thermal performance that cannot be quantified within the current framework. Third, temporal resolution is limited. The analysis relies on static seasonal comparisons (winter versus summer) rather than time series data, preventing assessment of within-season dynamics, interannual variability or long-term adaptation trajectories under climate change. Fourth, the spatial scope is constrained to Zone A1 of Zaragoza. The exclusion of other urban contexts such as the historic city center, industrial estates or low-density peripheral developments limits the generalizability of findings. Additional methodological assumptions require acknowledgment. The 300-m buffer radius used to characterize morphological context, while supported by the 3–30–300 rule for green space health benefits, represents a fixed spatial scale that may not capture all morphological influences.

  generallimitationsevidence 5/5
  Keywords: comfort urban climatic adaptive seasonal accd metric thermal conditions performance scale morphological season introduces gradient
• Conceptual Design of an AI-Assisted PCM Thermal Panel for Sustainable Building Applications. (2026) · International Journal of Technology and Emerging Research · doi

  Rapid urbanization, increasing demand for indoor thermal comfort, and climate change have further intensified the need for innovative solutions that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Energy-efficient thermal management has become an important challenge in sustainable construction.

  generalstated research gapevidence 5/5
  Keywords: rapid urbanization increasing demand indoor thermal comfort climate

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