Optimizing urban canyon design for energy efficiency and thermal comfort: Integrating material properties and canyon configuration features using a DoE approach

Urban canyon configuration significantly affects local microclimate, with direct implications for building energy demands and outdoor thermal comfort. While certain aspects of urban configuration are fixed during early planning, others, such as surface material selection, remain adaptable, even in existing urban contexts. This study proposes a method to develop design guidelines that optimize urban layouts for both energy efficiency and thermal comfort across both winter and summer seasons. Using the Princeton Urban Canopy Model (PUCM), 384 unique canyon configurations are simulated under both seasonal conditions. A comprehensive Design of Experiment (DoE) approach and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) identify how canyon geometry, orientation, and surface materials interactively influence key outcomes. Results show how the optimal material layout for urban canyons varies by orientation, with traditional cool materials best for North-South canyons and thermochromics improving energy efficiency, while East–West canyons require a more strategic material selection due to trapped radiation. In the best-performing configuration, thermochromic roofs reduced summer heat flux into buildings by up to 30 kW/m² (∼−3%), while photoluminescent walls helped maintain summer apparent temperatures below 38.6 °C. As the aspect ratio increases, cool and photoluminescent materials become more effective, reducing entering heat flux to 109 kW/m² in summer and maximizing it to 1040 kW/m² in winter, while optimizing thermal comfort.