Zhihua Wang

Irrigation of green spaces in cities helps to reduce thermal stress and building energy consumption in hot seasons, but requires an intricate balance between energy and water resource usage. In this study, a cutting-edge urban canopy model is applied to assess the impact of a variety of controlled irrigation schemes for Phoenix. Among all investigated schemes, the soil-temperature-controlled irrigation is the most efficient in reducing the annual building energy consumption and the total cost. The total annual saving depends on the controlling soil temperature for irrigation activation, and can be up to about $1.19 m−2 wall area as compared to the current irrigation practice.

Dr. Zhihua Wang is an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University, and the Co-Director for Climate System Research at National Center of Excellence (NCE) on SMART Innovations. His primary research interest is on the urban environment under the changing climate, including land-atmosphere interactions, turbulent transport, urban heat island effect and the long-term sustainability of cities. In particular, Dr. Wang's research focuses on both field measurement and numerical modeling to study the urban-rural difference and to assess the effect of urban development in terms of changes in urban climate and energy/water cycles.