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Energies
Volume 19
Issue 3
10.3390/en19030660
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

The Urban Heat Island Under Climate Change: Analysis of Representative Urban Blocks in Northwestern Italy

by
Matteo Piro
1,
Ilaria Ballarini
1,*,
Mamak P. Tootkaboni
1,
Vincenzo Corrado
1,
Giovanni Pernigotto
2,
Gregorio Borelli
2 and
Andrea Gasparella
2
1
TEBE Research Group, Department of Energy “Galileo Ferraris”, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
2
Faculty of Engineering, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, via Bruno Buozzi 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Energies 2026, 19(3), 660; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19030660
Submission received: 22 December 2025 / Revised: 16 January 2026 / Accepted: 25 January 2026 / Published: 27 January 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Performance Analysis of Building Energy Efficiency)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Urban populations are exposed to elevated local temperatures compared to surrounding rural areas due to the urban heat island (UHI) effect, which increases health risks and energy demand. The literature highlights that accurately quantifying UHIs at broader territorial scales remains challenging because of limited microscale climate data availability and, at the same time, the difficulty of increasing the spatial coverage of the outcomes. Within the PRIN2022-PNRR CRiStAll (Climate Resilient Strategies by Archetype-based Urban Energy Modeling) project, this work addresses these limitations by coupling Urban Building Energy Modeling with archetype-based representation of urban form and high-resolution climatic data. Urban archetypes are defined as representative microscale configurations derived from combinations of urban canyon geometries and building typologies, accounting for different climatic zones, use categories, and construction periods. The proposed methodology was applied to the city of Turin (Italy), where representative urban blocks were identified and modeled to evaluate key urban context metrics under short-, medium-, and long-term climate scenarios. The UHI effect was assessed using Urban Weather Generator, while energy simulations were performed with CitySim. The urban archetype approach enables both fine spatial resolution and extensive spatial coverage, supporting urban-scale mapping.
Keywords: urban heat island; climate change; urban building energy modeling; archetype-based approach; urban archetype; future weather files urban heat island; climate change; urban building energy modeling; archetype-based approach; urban archetype; future weather files

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MDPI and ACS Style

Piro, M.; Ballarini, I.; P. Tootkaboni, M.; Corrado, V.; Pernigotto, G.; Borelli, G.; Gasparella, A. The Urban Heat Island Under Climate Change: Analysis of Representative Urban Blocks in Northwestern Italy. Energies 2026, 19, 660. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19030660

AMA Style

Piro M, Ballarini I, P. Tootkaboni M, Corrado V, Pernigotto G, Borelli G, Gasparella A. The Urban Heat Island Under Climate Change: Analysis of Representative Urban Blocks in Northwestern Italy. Energies. 2026; 19(3):660. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19030660

Chicago/Turabian Style

Piro, Matteo, Ilaria Ballarini, Mamak P. Tootkaboni, Vincenzo Corrado, Giovanni Pernigotto, Gregorio Borelli, and Andrea Gasparella. 2026. "The Urban Heat Island Under Climate Change: Analysis of Representative Urban Blocks in Northwestern Italy" Energies 19, no. 3: 660. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19030660

APA Style

Piro, M., Ballarini, I., P. Tootkaboni, M., Corrado, V., Pernigotto, G., Borelli, G., & Gasparella, A. (2026). The Urban Heat Island Under Climate Change: Analysis of Representative Urban Blocks in Northwestern Italy. Energies, 19(3), 660. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19030660

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