uwg

The Urban Weather Generator (uwg) is a Python application for modeling the urban heat island effect. Specifically, it morphs rural EnergyPlus weather (.epw) files to reflect average conditions within the urban canyon using a range of properties including:

• Building geometry (including building height, ground coverage, window:wall area, and facade:site area)
• Building use (including program type, HVAC systems, and occupancy/equipment scheduling)
• Cooling system heat rejection to the outdoors (for Summer)
• Indoor heat leakage to the outdoors (for Winter)
• Urban materials (including the thermal mass, albedo and emissivity of roads, walls, and roofs)
• Anthropogenic heat from traffic (including traffic schedules)
• Vegetation coverage (both trees and shrubs)
• Atmospheric heat transfer from urban boundary and canopy layers

The original Urban Weather Generator was developed by Bruno Bueno for his PhD thesis at MIT. Since this time, it has been validated 3 times and has been enhanced by Aiko Nakano. In 2016, Joseph Yang also improved the engine and added a range of building templates.

This repository is a Python translation of the original MATLAB Urban Weather Generator.

Example

Here is a Python example that shows how to create and run an Urban Weather Generator object.

from uwg import UWG

# Define the .epw, .uwg paths to create an uwg object.
epw_path = "resources/SGP_Singapore.486980_IWEC.epw" # available in resources directory.


# Initialize the UWG model by passing parameters as arguments, or relying on defaults
model = UWG.from_param_args(epw_path=epw_path, bldheight=10, blddensity=0.5,
                            vertohor=0.8, grasscover=0.1, treecover=0.1, zone='1A')

# Uncomment these lines to initialize the UWG model using a .uwg parameter file
# param_path = "initialize_singapore.uwg"  # available in resources directory.
# model = UWG.from_param_file(param_path, epw_path=epw_path)

model.generate()
model.simulate()

# Write the simulation result to a file.
model.write_epw()

Installation

pip install uwg

QuickStart

import uwg

API Documentation

Local Development

1. Clone this repo locally

git clone git@github.com:ladybug-tools/uwg

# or

git clone https://github.com/ladybug-tools/uwg

2. Install dependencies:

cd uwg
pip install -r dev-requirements.txt
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run Tests:

python -m pytest tests/

4. Generate Documentation:

sphinx-apidoc -f -e -d 4 -o ./docs ./uwg
sphinx-build -b html ./docs ./docs/_build/docs