Heat losses from buildings and formation of underground urban heat islands.
https://doi.org/10.24930/2500-302X-2025-25-5-1201-1215
Abstract
Research subject. The underground temperature anomaly created by a typical office building. Aim . To conduct theoretical and experimental studies of conductive heat losses from a building, including those to the underground environment. To assess the morphology and evolution of the underground temperature anomaly and additional heat storage in the sub surface. To evaluate the economic significance and environmental consequences of such a temperature anomaly. Materials and methods. Experimental data were collected by monitoring temperatures and heat fluxes along the internal and external surfaces of the main structural elements of the building of the Institute of Geophysics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Yekaterinburg, Russia). These data were used to calculate the resistance to heat transfer (reciprocal of thermal transmittance) of the building structural elements, annual fluctuations in heat fluxes, and annual heat losses. Numerical simulation was used to describe the distribution, intensity, and evolution of the underground temperature anomaly. Results. The building loses 83% of its heat through external surfaces (walls, windows, roof), with only 17% being lost through the basement walls and floor. Over 40 years of the building operation, the total losses amount to 133 TJ and are determined by the low thermal insulation properties of its structural materials. According to the simulation results, the heat fluxes that penetrated the ground have formed an underground temperature anomaly, which has thus far spread to 15 m to the sides of the building and to 40 m into the depth (by the 2 K isoanomaly). The excess heat storage retained in the subsurface during the period of 40 years amounts to 3.2 TJ or 2.4% of the total conductive heat loss. Conclusions. Heat losses from buildings play a key role in the formation of underground urban heat islands, exceeding the climatic contribution of global warming by 36 times. At the same time, the economic importance of the thermal energy accumulated in the underground environment is low, and the environmental consequences of warming of the sub surface are negligible.
Keywords
urban heat island,
building,
heat losses,
underground temperature anomaly,
resistance to heat transfer,
heat flux,
heat storage
Supporting agencies: The work was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Scientific Foundation (project No. 22-77-10018, https://rscf.ru/project/22-77-10018/)
About the Authors
D. Yu. Demezhko
Institute of Geophysics, UB RAS
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Dmitry Yu. Demezhko
B. D. Khatskevich
Institute of Geophysics, UB RAS
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Bogdan D. Khatskevich
N. R. Fakaeva
Institute of Geophysics, UB RAS
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nelly R. Fakaeva
A. A. Gornostaeva
Institute of Geophysics, UB RAS
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Anastasiya A. Gornostaeva
A. N. Antipin
Institute of Geophysics, UB RAS
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Alexander N. Antipin
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Demezhko D.Yu., Khatskevich B.D., Fakaeva N.R., Gornostaeva A.A., Antipin A.N. Heat losses from buildings and formation of underground urban heat islands. LITHOSPHERE (Russia). 2025;25(5):1201-1215. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24930/2500-302X-2025-25-5-1201-1215
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