Comparison of Thermal Indices for Heat Stress in Residential Buildings in the Concurrent Event of Extreme Heat Wave and Power Outage and effectiveness of urban mitigation strategies on thermal discomfort

Extreme heatwaves due to climate change results in a surge for energy demand overloading the grid that is more prone to failure. This study models the current housing stock of Atlanta, Phoenix and Detroit for a concurrent event of heat wave and power outage for a weather that would be representative of climate change at the end of century using Finite Element Modeling methodology in MATLAB. Future weather scenarios alongwith UHI mitigation scenarios are modeled using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) simulations for RCP 8.5 scenario. Early results indicate that thermal stress inside residences are a combination of the location specific weatther and the construction type of the building. In some climates, dwellings conforming to strict building codes are more susceptible to overheating as compared to older and leaky dwellings and vice versa. These results are expected to further the dialogue of resilience vs energy savings in an uncertain but undoubtedly hotter climate.