My Ph.D. is nearing its end and I’ll have the opportunity to present my research to the wider community. 

I’ll be introducing “A Decoupled Framework for Fast and High-Resolution Simulations of Annual Outdoor Thermal Comfort”

Click to show abstract Cities will experience a substantial increase in extreme weather events as global warming continues, thereby affecting the microclimate they create for their citizens. The micro climate in cities is shaped by the built environment, proposed and developed by architects and urban designers, and constrained by the zoning rules imposed by urban planners. These stakeholders go through a design process where the most impactful changes can only be made very early on; however, there are currently no computational tools to estimate the microclimatic impact of their designs at this crucial stage.
This thesis introduces a decoupled approach to simulating outdoor thermal comfort motivated by global sensitivity analyses. For this, we streamline and validate computational fluid dynamics and ray tracing processes needed to simulate the wind velocity and mean radiant temperature in urban areas. We further introduce a surrogate model driven by a generative adversarial network that allows for near-instantaneous design feedback in very early design.
In three case studies, we show how the methods can be used in practice at different scales: (1) to engage in building-scale architectural design, (2) run parametric studies and optimization for urban design, (3) and inform city-scale urban policy. We conclude by providing an outlook on how the latest machine learning techniques will likely be applied to the field of architecture, revolutionizing the way we engage with environmental performance simulation in the design process.

If you’d like to find out more about my thesis and the work over the last four years, feel free to join my committee and me for this special occasion. 

The presentation will take place on Sep 8, 2022, from 12-2 pm in Rhodes Hall 261, in Ithaca, NY or you can join virtually via Zoom.  Link to the calendar event and Zoom details: https://bit.ly/pkastner-b-exam

Shoutout to Elias Fecher for his help on the poster!