The 4 most common wind hazards and phenomena in urban areas

05.09.25 05:03 PM - By Florian

Blog Articles

In this blog post, you will learn about the four most typical wind hazards and phenomena in urban areas with regard to people, real estate and open space and how you can effectively counteract them.

Urban development has a significant impact on local wind conditions. Poor planning decisions can create uncomfortable or even dangerous areas for people and users, as well as directly affecting the property itself, such as damage caused by wind forces.

Wind danger for people, properties and open space

Therefore, it is important to consider and prevent wind hazards early on in the planning of real estate and open space.

In principle, the larger and more massive the intervention, e.g. through construction projects or urban development, the more important the issue of wind becomes.

Wind hazards are particularly important in urban development, high-rise developments, and tall buildings to prevent wind hazards and damage. Wind hazards also play a key role in the planning and design of open space, such as squares, green spaces, parks, streetscapes, and recreational areas, ensuring a high quality of life and wind comfort.

We therefore briefly highlight and summarize the four most common wind hazards and the most typical wind phenomena and impacts on buildings and open space.

1. Channeling

The wind direction is often perceived as different from that reported by the weather service. This is because building canyons, such as along streets, direct the wind, changing the perceived wind direction at ground level.

The change in direction from the prevailing wind direction due to buildings is called channeling.

2. Venturi Effect

Assuming the volume flow rate of a flow is constant, the velocity must increase at a cross-sectional constriction. In buildings with narrow passages, a sharp, sudden increase in wind speed can therefore occur.

The increase in velocity caused by constrictions is called the Venturi effect.

3. Frontal Vortex and Downwashing

If a tall building is hit head-on, the wind deflects in all directions to flow around the building. A directional vector points toward the ground, which deflects the wind a second time, against the main wind direction. A vortex is created.

Sharp changes in direction are always associated with acceleration, so high speeds can occur at pedestrian level. A strong wind coming from above is also called a downdraft/downwashing and is a product of the frontal vortex.

4. Edge Vortex

Flows around buildings are usually accompanied by vortices in the wake of the building due to the building's corners.

These vortices are called edge vortex and can cause harmonic oscillations called vortex shedding. Changes in wind direction are always associated with acceleration, so high speeds can occur at building edges.

Urban wind phenomena in everyday life

The wind hazards and phenomena mentioned above entail different impacts and threats to buildings, people and open space due to the wind forces, turbulence and pressure loads that occur.

Wind analysis and flow simulations

What can be done to prevent or counteract these dangers? CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulations are used to model flow behavior and fluid mechanics, potential barriers, and the forces and effects that occur.

With the greenpass Wind module, real estate and open space can be analyzed with regard to wind in order to reduce and avoid the aforementioned wind phenomena and their impacts on people and properties.

The module, part of the greenpass 3D Analytics, is based on advanced CFD simulation and analysis techniques and include an urban pedestrian wind comfort analysis allowing potential wind hazards to be identified using meaningful key performance indicators. These hazards can then be specifically and effectively optimized using a digital twin or simulation model to improve user and wind comfort, as well as the quality of life for people in urban areas.

Modern software solutions and CFD flow simulations, such as the Wind Module from greenpass, allow the representation of dynamic flow behavior in order to avoid and reduce wind danger and other phenomena, as well as to effectively optimize wind comfort and cold air streams.

Conclusion

Wind phenomena in cities can pose various hazards and impacts on real estate, open space, and people. However, through targeted planning and design measures, we can effectively counteract these effects. It is therefore important to consider the effects of wind when planning buildings and open space in order to reduce and avoid wind hazards and create a pleasant wind environment.

This is the only way we can effectively protect our real estate and open space from wind hazards and damage while simultaneously creating a livable environment. Get started now and take advantage of the many benefits of the greenpass Wind module to prevent wind hazards for wind-safe real estate and open space with high wind comfort.

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Florian

Co-Founder & CEO greenpass

https://www.linkedin.com/in/florian-kraus/

Ich bin internationaler Experte mit jahrelanger Erfahrung in der Bewertung und Gestaltung von klimasicheren und nachhaltigen Immobilien und Freiräumen. Nach meinem Masterstudium für Landschaftsplanung & -architektur war ich an der BOKU als Forscher und der Green4Cities als Manager tätig.