Please note that this is a scanned copy of a paper originally published in 1990, so the text is not as clear as in documents created as pdf files.

Digest 350 describes how microclimate is affected by the geography and topography of a site and its surroundings, and how it can be further influenced by the arrangement of buildings and landscape features. It reviews techniques for planning a climatically sensitive site layout, giving maximum benefit from fine weather and some protection from adverse weather. This can benefit building performance by reducing energy consumption and improving durability, and can make the spaces around buildings more attractive and useful by providing better conditions for outdoor activities.

This Digest is published in three parts.  This part (Part 1) describes the important factors of the general climate of the UK (temperature, wind speed, solar irradiation, and driving rain) and briefly mentions sunpath diagrams and wind roses (more detail is given in the references listed in Part 3). The other two parts are:

Part 2: Influence of microclimate

Part 3: Improving microclimate through design.

The numbering of references, tables and illustrations continues through the three parts: references and further reading are listed in Part 3.