Bioclimatic building design considering urban microclimate

The urban context is often simplified or neglected in building energy models (BEM) due to their incapacity to consider accurately all heat fluxes provided from the environment. Simplifying too much the urban context can have consequences on the accuracy of the BEM predictions. Many approaches exist to consider the impact of the urban environment on a building’s dynamic behaviour, its heating demand as well as the thermal comfort in summer. Taking into account BEM capabilities and the way consulting agencies work, a method is tested to consider the urban microclimate at the bioclimatic design stage of a building project.