High-rise building density optimization for air quality improvement and investment potential

Purpose Air pollution and air quality are key environmental factors that impact an investor’s willingness to pay (WTP) and are negatively correlated. Hedonic pricing quantifies the relationship between air pollutants and property values but is a backward-looking tool. Similarly, limited research links investment potential to urban planning and air pollution. This research aims to predict variation in investor WTP due to air pollution concentrations within a high-dense high-rise building cluster. Design/methodology/approach Possible building configurations of Port City, Colombo, were modelled using Ansys Fluent. While maintaining the same Floor Area Ratio (FAR), building heights and volumes, the density of towers is changed by introducing wind corridors to enable pollutant dispersion. A trace pollutant is used as a comparative study to determine the effect of each building form on pollution concentration and potential WTP. Findings The introduction of wind corridors along the ambient wind direction increased building porosity, positively affecting WTP overall. Wind corridors perpendicular to the ambient wind reduced porosity, which reduced dispersion at upper levels, negatively affecting WTP. Research limitations/implications WTP is site-specific, and due to limited data for property values and volatility, the study was limited to a comparison study. Practical implications Varying building configurations affect pollutant dispersion at different heights. The findings of the study can refine investments based on air quality and natural ventilation requirements. Originality/value This paper fulfils a need to determine investment potential and air quality.