Trees & Vegetation
Enhance urban green spaces with ENVI-met: Optimizing Vegetation Efficiency, Resilience, and Safety
Urban Vegetation.
The scarcity of resources and the complexity of urban environments present unique challenges to plant growth. The interplay of limited soil and water, coupled with intricate wind and turbulence patterns influenced by surrounding structures, affects vegetation in a variety of ways. While sheltered areas near buildings offer favorable conditions, other areas face increased turbulence and high winds that shape trees differently. A deep understanding of these conditions is essential for sustainable landscape architecture, especially when considering urban change.
Environmental Analysis.
ENVI-met’s advanced simulation and modeling capabilities provide valuable insight into the complex wind patterns and their influence on urban vegetation. This enables landscape architects and urban planners to make informed decisions about the selection and placement of vegetation in urban areas. By leveraging ENVI-met’s expertise, urban green spaces can be thoughtfully designed and managed to ensure optimal vegetation health and longevity while promoting sustainable and resilient urban environments.
Leaf temperature.
In urban climatology, one of the key benefits of incorporating green solutions is the cooling effect of vegetation. Beyond the shade it provides during the day, vegetation cools the air through transpiration, where leaves cool and transfer the coolness to the surrounding air. However, it is important to maintain a leaf temperature lower than the air temperature to ensure effective cooling, as excessive leaf temperatures can cause damage to leaf tissue.
Unveiling Sustainable Landscapes: A High-Resolution Case Study of Vegetation Dynamics
Detailed simulation and analysis of the environmental conditions
One of the key benefits when implementing green solutions is the ability of vegetation to cool down the air temperature through shading, but also through evapotranspirative cooling. This process does not directly cool down the air, but first cools down the leaves, and then through heat transfer, cools down the air flowing through the foliage.
A cool leaf temperature is not only necessary to lower the air temperature. It can also stop the leaf tissue from being destroyed when the foliage temperature rises above a certain threshold. ENVI-met allows you to conduct detailed simulations to analyse the temperature impact of vegetation on the surrounding area as well as the impact of local climatic conditions on the vegetation itself.
By using ENVI-met it is also possible to focus on the demands of urban vegetation with consideration of wind stress and storm risk.
Unleashing the Power of TreePass: Advancing Sustainable Urban Greening with High-Resolution Analysis
Wind risk.
Urban design goes beyond sustainable buildings to include creating optimal growing and living conditions for trees. High and unusual wind conditions pose risks to urban trees, potentially causing damage and safety hazards. ENVI-met’s TreePass analysis provides detailed information on wind and turbulence conditions at specific tree locations, along with calculations of mechanical forces. This enables the identification of potential damage points and provides guidance on tree design for optimal safety and growth.
Tree Arrangement.
Trees, whether in forests or urban environments, are often arranged in groups and rows where their collective arrangement affects wind conditions and access to light. Trees sheltered by other trees or buildings tend to be less stable and have a more fragile geometry than those in the front rows exposed to the full force of the wind. Changes in arrangement, such as removal of trees or changes in wind patterns due to new construction, can have significant effects.
Coming 2026.
The TreePass feature will provide a comprehensive analysis of microclimate conditions for optimal tree growth and sustainability. By considering factors such as wind patterns, light availability, and mechanical forces exerted on trees, the TreePass will provide valuable insights for landscape architects, urban planners, and tree managers. With this information, informed decisions can be made regarding tree selection, placement, and management strategies to promote the health, stability, and longevity of urban green spaces.
Maximizing Urban Greenery: High-Resolution Case Study on the TreePass for Sustainable Landscapes
TreePass for sustainable urban greenery
This new module will not only provide a comprehensive data sheet of all relevant growing conditions at prospective tree locations, but also look at the tree’s biomechanics to prevent storm damage.
TreePass will allow you to analyze individual trees at the scale of a typical crown geometry with the resolution of a single branch. The impact of the local growing conditions, such as access to light, as well as different maintenance strategies will be considered in the analysis. The risk of uprooting or breakage will be visible down to the individual branch level for an unlimited number of trees inside a city quarter.
The ENVI-met TreePass will consist of a number of analysis modules, the first of which will be available with the 2024 Release.