Simulation-based framework to evaluate resistivity of cooling strategies in buildings against overheating impact of climate change

Abstract:

Overheating in buildings has become a major concern over the last decades. The situation is expected to worsen due to the current rate of climate change. Many efforts have been made to evaluate the future thermal performance of buildings and cooling technologies. In this paper, the term “climate change overheating resistivity” of cooling strategies is defined, and the calculation method is provided. A comprehensive simulation-based framework is then introduced, enabling the evaluation of a wide range of active and passive cooling strategies. The framework is based on the Indoor Overheating Degree (IOD), Ambient Warmness Degree (AWD), and Climate Change Overheating Resistivity (CCOR) as principal indicators allowing a multi-zonal approach in the quantification of indoor overheating risk and resistivity to climate change. To test the proposed framework, two air-based cooling strategies include a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) unit coupled with a Dedicated Outdoor Air System (DOAS) (C01) and a Variable Air Volume (VAV) system (C02) are compared in six different locations/climates. The case study is a shoebox model representing a double-zone office building. In general, the C01 shows higher CCOR values between 2.04 and 19.16 than the C02 in different locations. Therefore, the C01 shows superior resistivity to the overheating impact of climate change compared to C02. The maximum CCOR value of 37.46 is resulted for the C01 in Brussels, representing the most resistant case, whereas the minimum CCOR value of 9.24 is achieved for the C02 in Toronto, representing the least resistant case.

Highlights

? The framework is comprehensive enabling universal comparative analysis.

? IOD, AWD,?and?CCOR?are used as principal performance indicators.

? The methodology is tested by comparing VRF with DOAS and VAV.

Citation

Rahif, R., Hamdy, M., Homaei, S., Zhang, C., Holzer, P., & Attia, S. (2022). Simulation-based framework to evaluate resistivity of cooling strategies in buildings against overheating impact of climate change.?Building and Environment,?208, 108599.

Download and share the paper (open access): https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/265193

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Our hottest cities worldwide are nearly unlivable in summer. Can cooling technologies save it?

The surge in heat-related deaths amid record-breaking summer temperatures offers a “glimpse into the future” and a stark warning that some of our largest cities worldwide are already unlivable for some significant part of the population. Every death is preventable and shows that there’s much much more for us to do to make the city livable and comfortable for everyone.

As part of the International Energy Agency (IEA) EBC Annex 80 – “Resilient cooling of buildings” project activities, this paper is developed to address the abovementioned question. The aim of this research is to broaden the comparative analysis among cooling strategies to global scales. The main research questions are:?

? Q1: How to characterize the climate data and building models in a consistent way to universally compare the cooling strategies?

? Q2: How to quantify and evaluate the climate change overheating resistivity of cooling strategies in buildings?

? Q3: How to test the evaluation framework??

I strongly recommend reading this newly published paper and sharing it with potential readers. The paper is available in open access format:?https://lnkd.in/gBSZx9wY

This paper was led by?Ramin Rahif?together with?Mohamed Hamdy, @Shabnam Homaei, @Chen Zhang, @Peter Holzer, and?Shady Attia?This work can be beneficial for any city designer and officials who want to be prepared so that their cities are livable and thriving.

#climatechange?#thermalcomfort?#overheating?#activecooling?#passivecooling?#coolingsolutions?#globalwarming