Analysis of the Urban Heat Island in Rome (Italy): extent and effects on the building energy performance simulations

It is well known that the building sector is one of the main responsible for energy consumption in the current global energy scenario. In this context, the concept of efficient buildings passes through newly built and retrofitted constructions. Thus, buildings energy software become essential tools for achieving energy savings, designing the so-called green buildings, and evaluating different energy retrofit solutions for the building stock. However, climate change and its effects on buildings energy performance represent a critical issue. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the climatic conditions in Rome and its surroundings, estimating the occurrence of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon. Consequently, meteorological data obtained from two airports near the city and those recorded for two years in a densely built neighborhood of Rome were examined and compared. In addition, the differences among weather data, also taking into consideration UNI 10349, were highlighted. Then, TRNSYS software was used for creating a simple building, in order to evaluate the effects of different climatic boundary conditions on building energy performance, in terms of heating and cooling energy demands.