Designing with and for the local urban climate to create healthy, liveable and sustainable urban environments.

Mentor

Marjolein Pijpers-van Esch

Student Projects

Designing Heat Refuges for the Dutch Elderly
by Yulin Song
Cleaning the Air
Mitigating air pollution through Urban Design

by Marcello Vietti
Design principles for Urban Heat Management
by L. Kleerekoper

Research

Climate Arboreta
On a hot, windless day, a leafy neighbourhood may feel 10 to 15°C cooler than an urban area that is more exposed to the sun. Trees thus play a key role in preventing heat stress and the design of climate-proof and healthier cities. “Although we already understand a great deal about the performance of tree species in the built environment, there is very little empirical knowledge about their cooling capacity.”, says researcher Lotte Dijkstra. In order to determine how physical properties such as the trunk and crown shape and the leaf characteristics influence the local air temperature the research team designed and built special ‘climate arboreta’ with sensors installed in each of the 75 tree species.
What is the coolest tree? (tudelft.nl)