Urban Surface Albedo as a Tool of a Bioclimatic Design in Semi-aride Climate: Case of Fez

Urban surface materials including the floor coverings, facades and other street environment elements contribute to the modification of urban climate, radiative budget and air temperature in street. Properties of the materials: optical, radiative and thermal characteristics mainly define their thermal balance. Two properties are particularly concerned, namely albedo and thermal capacity, which determine their capacity of heat storing. This paper analyzed the radiative balance of a residential area in Fez, a city with hot and dry climate during summer. Using Envi-met the software for simulation of urban environments and Biomet the post-processor tool for calculating Human Thermal Comfort Indices from ENVI-met model output files. Four different scenarios: homogeneous groups of coating materials for roofs, facades and street pavements have been simulated. Mean Radiant Temperature Tmrt, surface and air temperatures as well as Predict Mean Vote PMV are calculated during 24 h.