Aiming at reducing computational costs, an embedded large eddy simulation (ELES) model is introduced to simulate the wind-induced response of an isolated tall building immersed in a turbulent atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). The unsteady LES with high grid resolution is computed at the building-located area, while the low-resolution RANS model is applied to other areas. The novelty of the present model is using the random flow generation (RFG) technique to provide turbulent fluctuations, applying a mixed condition to tangential interfaces, and the good pressure coupling between separated domains. The simulated fluctuating surface pressure and the surrounding wind field of the building are analyzed, as well as the effects of fraction factor and boundary locations of the inner LES domain on simulations are also studied. Comparison with experimental measurements and pure LES result verifies the good performance of present ELES and further reveals the weakened effect of the near-wall lateral boundaries and the distortion of the neighboring RANS flow field with an insufficient downstream boundary distance. The comparison shows that over 75% of the computing time is saved using present ELES compared with pure LES, demonstrating ELES's good prospects in the urban wind environment simulation. •Accurate simulation of building aerodynamics using Embedded LES (ELES) model.•Random Flow Generation technique is employed to generate inflow turbulence.•Mixed condition is applied for tangential interfaces and pressure coupling.•Impacts of boundary parameters and domain sizes on the ELES results are analyzed.•ELES model saves over 75% computing time compared to pure LES.