---
DOAJ_listed: '1'
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: gold
_id: '22499'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Increasing urban tree cover is a common strategy to lower urban temperatures
and indirectly the building energy demand for air-conditioning (AC). However,
urban vegetation leads to increasing humidity with potential negative effects
on the AC dehumidification loads in hot-humid climates, an effect that has so
far been unexplored. Here, we included a building energy model into the urban
ecohydrological model Urban Tethys-Chloris (UT&C-BEM) to quantify the AC energy
reduction effects of trees in seven hot cities with varying background humidity.
A numerical experiment was performed simulating various urban densities and tree
cover scenarios in the city-climates of Riyadh, Phoenix, Dubai, New Delhi, Singapore,
Lagos, and Tokyo. The relative contribution of tree shade, air temperature reduction,
and humidity increase on the AC energy reduction was further quantified. We found
that well-watered trees provide the largest average summer AC energy reduction
of −17% in the hot-dry climate (Riyadh, Phoenix). As tree shade is the dominant
factor leading to the AC energy reduction in all city-climates, humid cities also
show an average summer AC energy reduction ranging from −6% to −9%. However, increasing
humidity is affecting AC dehumidification loads, especially under higher ventilation
rates in humid climates and in these cities, AC energy reduction is most efficient
with up to 40% tree cover. Additionally, we found that trees effectively reduce
peak AC energy consumption due to higher shading effects in those hours. These
results can inform urban planning strategies to maximize reduction in the AC energy
demand using urban trees.
article_number: e2024MS004590
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Naika
full_name: Meili, Naika
last_name: Meili
- first_name: Xing
full_name: Zheng, Xing
last_name: Zheng
- first_name: Yuya
full_name: Takane, Yuya
last_name: Takane
- first_name: Ko
full_name: Nakajima, Ko
last_name: Nakajima
- first_name: Kazuki
full_name: Yamaguchi, Kazuki
last_name: Yamaguchi
- first_name: Dengkai
full_name: Chi, Dengkai
last_name: Chi
- first_name: Yue
full_name: Zhu, Yue
last_name: Zhu
- first_name: Jing
full_name: Wang, Jing
last_name: Wang
- first_name: Yeshan
full_name: Qiu, Yeshan
last_name: Qiu
- first_name: Athanasios
full_name: Paschalis, Athanasios
last_name: Paschalis
- first_name: Gabriele
full_name: Manoli, Gabriele
last_name: Manoli
- first_name: Paolo
full_name: Burlando, Paolo
last_name: Burlando
- first_name: Puay Yok
full_name: Tan, Puay Yok
last_name: Tan
- first_name: Simone
full_name: Fatichi, Simone
id: cf8e546b-a9b0-11f0-a43b-aa89ed1b56d6
last_name: Fatichi
citation:
ama: Meili N, Zheng X, Takane Y, et al. Modeling the effect of trees on energy demand
for indoor cooling and dehumidification across cities and climates. Journal
of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. 2025;17(3). doi:10.1029/2024ms004590
apa: Meili, N., Zheng, X., Takane, Y., Nakajima, K., Yamaguchi, K., Chi, D., … Fatichi,
S. (2025). Modeling the effect of trees on energy demand for indoor cooling and
dehumidification across cities and climates. Journal of Advances in Modeling
Earth Systems. American Geophysical Union. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ms004590
chicago: Meili, Naika, Xing Zheng, Yuya Takane, Ko Nakajima, Kazuki Yamaguchi, Dengkai
Chi, Yue Zhu, et al. “Modeling the Effect of Trees on Energy Demand for Indoor
Cooling and Dehumidification across Cities and Climates.” Journal of Advances
in Modeling Earth Systems. American Geophysical Union, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ms004590.
ieee: N. Meili et al., “Modeling the effect of trees on energy demand for
indoor cooling and dehumidification across cities and climates,” Journal of
Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, vol. 17, no. 3. American Geophysical Union,
2025.
ista: Meili N, Zheng X, Takane Y, Nakajima K, Yamaguchi K, Chi D, Zhu Y, Wang J,
Qiu Y, Paschalis A, Manoli G, Burlando P, Tan PY, Fatichi S. 2025. Modeling the
effect of trees on energy demand for indoor cooling and dehumidification across
cities and climates. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. 17(3), e2024MS004590.
mla: Meili, Naika, et al. “Modeling the Effect of Trees on Energy Demand for Indoor
Cooling and Dehumidification across Cities and Climates.” Journal of Advances
in Modeling Earth Systems, vol. 17, no. 3, e2024MS004590, American Geophysical
Union, 2025, doi:10.1029/2024ms004590.
short: N. Meili, X. Zheng, Y. Takane, K. Nakajima, K. Yamaguchi, D. Chi, Y. Zhu,
J. Wang, Y. Qiu, A. Paschalis, G. Manoli, P. Burlando, P.Y. Tan, S. Fatichi, Journal
of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 17 (2025).
das_tickbox: '1'
date_created: 2026-07-27T12:30:24Z
date_published: 2025-03-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-08-10T07:38:10Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1029/2024ms004590
extern: '1'
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ms004590
intvolume: ' 17'
issue: '3'
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://doi.org/10.1029/2024MS004590
month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1942-2466
publication_status: published
publisher: American Geophysical Union
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Modeling the effect of trees on energy demand for indoor cooling and dehumidification
across cities and climates
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
volume: 17
year: '2025'
...