Thesis document - Jana Milosovicova - Urban Design English

Sky view factor (SVF)A parameter that expresses urban geometry. “For an unobstructed horizontal area theSVF is eqaul to 1.0. For a point surrounded by close and very high buildings, or for a verynarrow street, it may be about 0.1” (Oke, 1981 in Givoni, 1998, p. 252).Site Occupancy Index (SOI)“The ratio of the actual surface area of a plot to permissible coverage. It is expressed asa simple ratio of built surface area to site area.” (BSR Glossaries, online)Solar-friendly treeSolar radiationSpecific heat capacityStorage heatUrban canyonA deciduous tree that “provides enough shade in summer thanks to the moderatelydense foliage; it however also allows sufficient sunlight permeate through the barebranches in the colder months, because it has an open or thin branch density, loses itsleaves early in fall, has no seed pods or catkins in winter and leafs out later in spring.Good examples include certain ash species, Chinese hackberry, European hackberry,Chinese pistache, and sawleaf zelkova”. (Perry, online)“The solar radiation is the radiation of the sun. The maximum power of the electromagneticradiation is the visible light, however, comprises also other electro-magneticwaves from X-rays and UV- radiation up to radio waves.” (ThiesClima, online)Represents “the amount of energy required to raise 1 kg of a substance by 1°C, andcan be thought of as the ability of a substance to absorb heat. Therefore the SI unitsof specific heat capacity are kJ/kg K (kJ/kg°C). Water has a very large specific heatcapacity (4.19 kJ/kg°C) compared with many fluids and is therefore considered a goodheat carrier.” (EngineerToolBox)Energy absorbed by various materials (construction materials, pavement, soil, etc.),known as ‘storage heat’, expressed by the specific heat capacity (Sass, online).“Is an artefact of an urban environment similar to a natural canyon. It is manifested bystreets cutting through dense blocks of structures, especially skyscrapers, which causesa canyon effect.” (wikipedia)Urban Heat Island (UHI)“Means the difference in the air temperature between an urban area and its surroundingenvironment. The main occurrence of this effect is at night, when the surrounding ruralenvironment cools down much faster than the city, where the heat stored in the buildingmass and roads is only slowly released into the atmosphere” (Urbis Limited 2007, p.15). The UHI augmenting factors are evapotranspiration loss, urban geometry, anthropogenicheat waste and urban “greenhouse” effect.Water cycleWastewaterThe term “refers to the movement of water, in all three of its physical forms, through thevarious environmental compartments.” (Yeang 2006, p. 449)The spent or used water from individual homes, a community, a farm or an industry thatcontains dissolved or suspeded matter.” (Yeang 2006, p. 461)Glossary65