This is a repository copy of A review on recent developments of thermoelectric materials for room-temperature applications.

One of the greatest environmental challenges for the sustainability of future cities is the mitigation of the urban heat island phenomenon and thus, improvement of outdoor comfort conditions for people. The emphasis of this work is to analyze how mitigation techniques in a dense urban environment affect microclimate parameters and outdoor thermal comfort. The quantitative differentiation of outdoor thermal comfort conditions through bioclimatic urban redevelopment for an area in the city of Serres, Greece is investigated. The main bioclimatic interventions concern the application of cool paving materials, the increase of vegetated areas and the creation of water surfaces. The analysis and comparison are performed for a hot summer day with the ENVI-met model. Software simulations regarding microclimatic and outdoor thermal comfort conditions are performed for the daytime period 06.00 to 20.00 (14 hours) at the height of 1.8m from the ground. The examined parameters are air temperature, surface temperature and mean radiant temperature (T mrt). The evaluation of outdoor thermal comfort conditions is conducted using the index PMV (Predicted Mean Vote), adapted for outdoor conditions. The results of simulations are discussed regarding the assessment of bioclimatic interventions.

a b s t r a c tThe local climate of an urban area can be greatly affected by the urban thermo-physical and geometrical characteristics, anthropogenic activities and heat sources present in the area. A growing interest in microclimate issues has been raised as they represent important factors in achieving energy conservation and sustainability inside the cities, where a big amount of the population lives.This paper presents the analysis of microclimatic conditions in urban street canyons in a city of Northern Greece, Serres. A number of field measurements were carried out during summer 2011 aiming at investigation of the microclimate parameters that affect thermal conditions in the city's streets. The present study focused on the experimental investigation of wind characteristics (speed and direction) and thermal profile (air temperature distribution) of an area consisted by several building blocks in the city center.The data analysis concentrated at the differences that were observed inside the canyons, along different streets and the comparison between the microclimatic parameters in the urban center and the suburban area. Estimation of the cooling degree days for the area shows the increased energy needs of the surrounding buildings during the summer period.

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Lignite mining operations and lignite-fired power stations result in major particulate pollution (fly ash and fugitive dust) problems in the areas surrounding these activities. The problem is more complicated, especially, for urban areas located not far from these activities, due to additional contribution from the urban pollution sources. Knowledge of the distribution of airborne particulate matter into size fraction has become an increasing area of focus when examining the effects of particulate pollution. On the other hand, airborne particle concentration measurements are useful in order to assess the air pollution levels based on national and international air quality standards. These measurements are also necessary for developing air pollutants control strategies or for evaluating the effectiveness of these strategies, especially, for long periods. In this study an attempt is made in order to investigate the particle size distribution of fly ash and fugitive dust in a heavy industrialized (mining and power stations operations) area with complex terrain in the northwestern part of Greece. Parallel total suspended particulates (TSP) and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 microm (PM10) concentrations are analyzed. These measurements gathered from thirteen monitoring stations located in the greater area of interest. Spatial, temporal variation and trend are analyzed over the last seven years. Furthermore, the geographical variation of PM10 - TSP correlation and PM10/TSP ratio are investigated and compared to those in the literature. The analysis has indicated that a complex system of sources and meteorological conditions modulate the particulate pollution of the examined area.

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