On the Anthropogenic Heat Fluxes Using an Air Conditioning Evaporative Cooling Parameterization for Mesoscale Urban Canopy Models

An air conditioning evaporative cooling parameterization was implemented in a building effect parameterization/building energy model (BEP + BEM) to calculate the magnitude of the anthropogenic sensible and latent heat fluxes from buildings released to the atmosphere. The new heat flux formulation was tested in New York City (NYC) for the summer of 2010. Evaporative cooling technology diminishes between 80% and 90% of the anthropogenic sensible heat from air conditioning systems by transforming it into latent heat in commercial (COMM) areas over NYC. Average 2-m air temperature is reduced by 0.8 °C, while relative humidity is increased by 3% when cooling towers (CTs) are introduced. Additionally, CTs introduce stable atmospheric conditions in the urban canopy layer reducing turbulence production particularly during dry days.