Evaluating the thermal impact of built environment surfaces on urban trees for achieving maximum cooling performance in the school's car parking and walkways in the UK and Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

During heatwaves built, urban areas can easily overheat, which can put peoples health at risk or require expensive mechanical air conditioning. However, greener areas remain several degrees colder and powerful in reducing the heat island effect and provide thermal comfort. Urban greening proposed to be an approach to mitigating health consequences resulting from climate change increased temperatures and heatwaves (Bowler, et al., 2010). Built environment surfaces usually contribute to increasing local climate temperatures, and this research would investigate the impact of built environment surfaces temperatures such as walkways in streets and parking, on urban trees thermal performance. Before something can be managed, it should be measured as a first step. Urban tree thermal effect is one of the essential indicators of green infrastructure quality. On the city scale, one of the biggest challenges of green infrastructure is how to deal with severe heat waves by improving healthy growth and prosperity and improving the cooling performance of urban trees. Particularly walkways and parking areas, where urban heat island radiated. Those areas where impervious surfaces are increasing with urban expansion. This research intends to enrich the decision-making process specifically architects, in improving the pavement surface materials used in schools and built environments to tackle climate change challenges in summer, particularly heat waves. The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of built environment surfaces temperatures on the urban tree cooling potentials and in turn, its impact on urban microclimate in the UK and KSA hot climate. This research examines and assesses the relationship between the surfaces of urban built environments and the cooling potential of green spaces and trees in urban areas. A total of 18 experimental case studies have been conducted to assess the impact of heatwaves and climate change on urban trees in both British and Saudi contexts. These studies also examined the effects of construction materials used around trees in schools, walkways, and car parking areas on the thermal performance of the trees. A comprehensive statistical analysis has been conducted to assess the overall influence of construction materials on trees in urban environments in both the UK and Saudi Arabia. The findings reveal that the impact of construction materials temperature on urban trees is significant, and the effect in Saudi Arabia is more substantial than it in UK. This variation could be attributed to the decrease in relative humidity and the increase in air temperature. Consequently, climate change may result in a similar outcome in the UK, as a result of more extensive heatwaves over the summer.