The city of Abu Dhabi is growing every year in population, urban extent and energy demand. This research focuses on the application of two simulation programs to estimate changes in urban climate associated with continued development in Abu Dhabi: The Urban Weather Generator (UWG) and ENVI-met. Simulation with these two software packages are validated with the site data measured in downtown Abu Dhabi. A comparison analysis (in the different seasons) between the rural data, the simulation output, and the site measurements shows the variations of the UHI in this Middle Eastern city and the potential of the validated tools. The main aims of this study are: (a) to make a seasonal validation of the UWG for the city of Abu Dhabi (referring to urban-rural available data). The tool was previously validated for a year (no seasonal division) for Abu Dhabi, Toulouse, Basel, Singapore, Rome and Barcelona. The simulations are based on the 2016 version of the Urban Weather Generator. The analysis is separated into three main seasons (instead of the full year): winter, spring, summer. (b) To make a seasonal validation and improve the second tool evaluated in this study, ENVI-met 4.0. The software can simulate urban temperature, humidity and wind speed. Guides are proposed for the enhancement of the accuracy of both estimation procedures. Referring to the results, UWG tends to overestimate the canyon temperature during the summer and has a more realistic estimation on the winter season. ENVI-met has better estimations of temperatures during the summer season compared to UWG. Finally, the UWG weather file contributes a more detailed energy model on a mesoscale model. It considers the seasonal effect and shows the impact of the climate on profiling the UHI phenomena. ENVI-met needs improvement in calculating the anthropogenic heat and in calculation of the mean radiant temperature.

In arid climates, a significant portion of the urban peak energy demand is dedicated to cooling and air-conditioning during the summer. The rapid urbanization rates in developing countries, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), have intensified the pressure on energy resources to meet the indoor comfort needs of residents. As a result, there has been a substantial increase in energy demand, with a 2.3% rise recorded in 2018. Electricity consumption in residential buildings accounted for over 48.6% of the total electricity consumption. The choice of building fabrics used in a residential building can significantly impact the building’s passive performance and carbon footprint. This study aimed to enhance our understanding of how specific fabric details influence cooling energy usage in arid climates. To achieve this, a validation simulation model was initially created as a base case for a residential housing typology in Al Ain, UAE. This was followed by a parametric energy evaluation of various building envelope features. The evaluation was based on the reduction of yearly cooling load energy. The simulation results indicate that incorporating 50 mm of expanded polystyrene insulation into the outside walls significantly reduced energy consumption for cooling requirements in the arid UAE climate. Furthermore, no substantial difference was observed in the various roofing choices, including cool and green roofs, gravels, and sand roofs. Additionally, we concluded that the total solar energy transmittance (g-value) of windows played a more significant role than thermal transmittance (U-value) in reducing solar heat gain within the spaces. These findings should guide strategic decisions on building envelope upgrading for sustainable societies.

Villas are a very common building typology in Abu Dhabi. Due to its preponderance in residential areas, studying how to effectively reduce energy demand for this type of building is critical for Abu Dhabi, and many similar cities in the region. This study aims to show the impact of proposed energy efficiency measures on a villa using a calibrated model and to demonstrate that to be accurate, the model must be driven using urban weather data instead of rural weather data due to the significance of the urban heat island effect. Available data for this case study includes construction properties, on-site (urban) weather data, occupancy-related loads and schedules and rural weather data. Four main steps were followed, weather data customisation combining urban and rural weather variables, model calibration using a genetic algorithm-based tool and simulating retrofit strategies. We created a calibrated model for electricity demand during 2016–2017 with a 4% normalized mean bias error and an 11% coefficient of variation of the mean square error. Changing from none to all retrofit strategies results in a 34% reduction in annual energy consumption. According to the calibrated model, increased urban temperatures cause a 7.1% increase in total energy consumption.

In many cities that have experienced rapid growth like Abu Dhabi, urban microclimate scenarios evolve rapidly as well and it is important to study the urban thermal dynamics continuously. The Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification considers factors related to the physical properties like surface cover and surface structure of the city which allow to analyze urban heat flows. Abu Dhabi city is rapidly expanding and is characterized by highly heterogeneous types of built forms that comprise mainly of old mid-rise and modern high-rise buildings with varied degrees of vegetation cover in different parts of the city. The fact that it is a coastal city in a desert environment makes it quite unique. This paper presents an approach of studying urban heat flows in such heterogeneous setup. First, the city is classified into local climate zones using images acquired by Landsat Satellite. Numerical simulations are performed in the designated LCZs using a computational fluid dynamics software, Envi-met. The results of Envi-met are calibrated and validated using in-situ measurements across all four seasons. The calibrated models are then applied to study entire Abu Dhabi island across different seasons. The results indicate a clear presence of urban heat island (UHI) effect when averaged over the full day which is varying in different zones. The zones with high vegetation do not show large average UHI effect whereas the effect is significant in densely built zones. The study also validates previous observations on the inversion of UHI effect during the day and in terms of diurnal response.

The building industry is in constant change and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a leader in innovative solutions for green buildings. The standards used in achieving sustainable buildings, such as LEED, Estidama, have contributed to building structures that reduce energy consumption. More than 40% of the total energy is consumed by residential and commercial buildings as electricity. The strategies applied in a building in order to have low energy consumption vary depending on the region and climate. In the UAE, a country with a hot arid climate, these strategies have relevant importance. The aim of this study is to design an innovative parametric/dynamic façade in a new building, to be built on the United Arab Emirates University Campus, AL Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE. The new structure is an additional library building (with additional functions to the current building). The design shall be based on the region’s architectural heritage. The modelling and simulation tools used are Rhino and plug-ins like Grasshopper. Furthermore, an optimization process of the parametric/dynamic façade is conducted. Based on the energy simulation results, the application of the innovative parametric/dynamic façade brings a reduction of 25% in the energy consumption of the building. In addition, the daylight improvement by the application of this façade is 44%. This research brings innovation in terms of the advanced tools used in calculating several parameters for the advanced façade and the process from concept to modeling and simulation. These findings are promising for regional industry due to the advanced tools and methods used. Moreover, it shall help the local authorities such as Abu Dhabi Municipality achieve the sustainability goals 2030.