PORT FOLIO

Awarded projects are listed in this page. Due to the limitation of pages, I had chosen a selection of designs and projects that represent myself in this portfolio. The projects that are not covered here are fully displayed in my personal website. To take a closer look at these projects, please scan the QR code to my online gallery.

From the next page are those worthiest projects that show my expertise and features of creativity.

I am currently an active member of the Buildings and Climate Laboratory (BCLab).

In 2021, I participated in the heat island research program of the Taichung City Government, which aimed for heat mitigation strategies.

To reduce the heat accumulated in the city, I was responsible for identifying the wind corridors, which govern the urban heat flow, by utilizing data from High-Density Street-Level Air Temperature Observation Network (HiSAN).

Urban Heat Island Effect

‘Urban Heat Island Intensity(UHI)’ is based on the temperature difference between the highest and lowest temperature reigions in a city over the same period. The temperature difference between the urban and suburban areas of London has dramatically increased from 2.1°C to 8.6°C since the 1820s, which indicates the rapid deterioration of urban heat island intensity.

The UHI in many cities in Taiwan, my hometown, is now generally over 2.5°C in summer, which is higher than our end-of-century temperature predictions and imaginations.

At 2 pm on 29 August 2021, for example, the highest temperature in Taichung was 34.6°C in Dali District, while the lowest temperature in the plain was 30.8°C in Dajia District, with a UHI of about 3.8°C. In general, long-term meteorological data shows that the maximum average temperature in Taichung at 2 pm in July was also 33.8°C in Dali, compared to 30.3°C in Taichung Metropolitan Park in the suburbs of Shalu, demonstrating a difference of 3.5°C in UHI.

Temperature difference between high and low temperature zones

Water Greens Temp.(°C)

At low levels of development, there are sufficient permeable areas, good ventilation, low surface heat storage, and no artificial heat. The heat island effect is not significant and therefore does not need to be addressed.

In the modern era of intensive development, smaller permeable areas, denser buildings, more heat retention in man-made materials and more artificial heat emissions have all led to the worsening of the heat island effect.

The heat island effect can be mitigated by fixing the causes mentioned above, such as increasing greens and water areas, planning wind corridors, using low heat retention materials, and promoting carbon reduction. I was responsible for identifying the wind corridors, which govern the urban heat flow, by utilizing data from High-Density Street-Level Air Temperature Observation Network (HiSAN).

In order to implement these strategies, we planned a judgement process to select key demonstration areas:

Wind Corridors

We have distinguished wind corridors into two types: natural and urban wind corridors.

A natural wind corridor is a specific wind flow from low to high temperatures, driven by temperature gradient and pressure gradient, and shaped by topography. It is also subject to primary circulation (global wind systems), secondary circulation (air masses, fronts...), and local circulation (sea-land breezes...).

When the natural wind corridor enters the city and flows through areas of low wind resistance, the wind paths are called "urban wind corridors" if they are connected continuously. Areas of the city with greater wind resistance (e.g. buildings, artificial embankments, etc.) will block the natural wind corridor and flow into areas with less wind resistance (such as green spaces, water areas, squares, driveways, etc.) and will be adjusted according to the natural wind corridor or prevailing winds in the area.

A full-scale urban wind corridors are divided into Primary and Secondary Wind Corridors according to their ventilation capacities. If the scale of the study is zoomed into a local area, the corridor is defined as a Local WindCorridor, and sometimes called a Type III Corridor.

NATURAL WIND CORRIDOR

Based on wind speed and direction data from the the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR)

URBAN WIND CORRIDOR

Based on natural wind corridors and urban textures (roughness, greens, hydrology...)

*The height depends on the Urban Canopy Layer (UCL), which is generally the average height of urban buildings.

Urban Primary Wind Corridor (Type I)

Full-Scale local Local Wind Corridor (Type III)

Zoom in

Urban Secondary Wind Corridor (Type II)

The natural wind corridor in summer throughout Taichung has the following characteristics:

1. Daan River Valley Wind Corridor: A Y-shaped wind corridor from the Daan River and the Dajia River upstreams, meet and merge at middlestreams, blowing between the land to the sea.

2. Coastal / Terrace / Basin Wind Corridors: All belong to the north-south wind corridor blowing from south to north at night.

3. Wu River Valley Wind Corridor: A wind corridor blowing from sea to the land in the daytime.

NATURAL WIND CORRIDOR IN TAICHUNG CITY

Daan River Valley Wind Corridor

Coastal / Terrace / Basin Wind Corridors

Wu River Valley Wind Corridor

Nighttime Wind Corridor

Daytime Wind Corridor

Roughness Length

If we assume that the wind comes from the same direction in a city, the wind from different starting points on the same cross-section would flow through different densities of obstructions. Based on the total path length it goes and the remaining wind speed, a smoother route is more likely to be considered as an urban wind corridor.

The roughness length (RL) measures the degree of undulation above ground level within an area, and the ability of slowing down the wind flowing through. We use this parameter to determine urban wind corridors. To compare the differences between areas, we subdivide the urban area into grids of 500 square metre, and calculated the RL of each grid individually.

The formula used to determine the roughness length of the wind corridor for this project is:

0.25 ×

Buildings Coefficients

Σ Each Unit (Area of Buildings × Height of Buildings)

Unit size (500m² for this project)

Study Domain

We have therefore defined the urban wind corridor configuration:

1. The prevailing summer winds in the area are defined based on long-term wind speed and direction information.

2. Map the building area and height parameters in the geographic information system (GIS). The blank spaces are roads or open spaces, such as plaza, parks...

3. Calculate the RL value. The greater the roughness, the darker the visualisation, the less likely the wind would pass through.

4. Finally, assume that the wind prefer to pass through the path of less resistance. By least cost path (LCP) theory, the potential wind corridor paths can be plotted from south to north.