TY - JOUR
T1 - Energy efficiency vs resiliency to extreme heat and power outages
T2 - The role of evolving building energy codes
AU - Baniassadi, Amir
AU - Heusinger, Jannik
AU - Sailor, David
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by Assistance Agreement No. 83575401 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . It has not been formally reviewed by the EPA. The views expressed in this document are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Agency. EPA does not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2018/7
Y1 - 2018/7
N2 - Environmental issues, costs, and limited energy supply, among other concerns have been driving the efforts toward more energy efficient buildings over the last four decades. Hence, energy efficiency is not only well-established within the building design and construction industries, but is also an active field of research. Many countries have state-mandated building energy codes that are becoming more stringent with time. Therefore, the building stock in many regions is becoming more efficient. With the observed increase in frequency and intensity of hot weather events in urban areas around the world and research that suggests a more extreme future, the resiliency of the built environment to heat has become a major concern for planners and policymakers. Therefore, it is important to understand how the evolution of energy codes affects the resiliency of buildings to heat. In this study, we used whole-building energy simulations to investigate the performance of high-rise residential apartment buildings under a three-day power outage scenario coinciding with a three-day heat wave. We modeled buildings compliant with consecutive versions of two building energy codes and standards commonly used in the U.S. to investigate the effect of building code on resiliency in all distinct climate zones within the country. The results suggest that in most climates, indoor conditions exceed critical thresholds during the modeled scenario. Moreover, we observed a synergy between energy efficiency and resiliency to heat in warmer climates. However, in heating-dominated climates, newer codes can potentially have an adverse effect on heat resiliency of buildings.
AB - Environmental issues, costs, and limited energy supply, among other concerns have been driving the efforts toward more energy efficient buildings over the last four decades. Hence, energy efficiency is not only well-established within the building design and construction industries, but is also an active field of research. Many countries have state-mandated building energy codes that are becoming more stringent with time. Therefore, the building stock in many regions is becoming more efficient. With the observed increase in frequency and intensity of hot weather events in urban areas around the world and research that suggests a more extreme future, the resiliency of the built environment to heat has become a major concern for planners and policymakers. Therefore, it is important to understand how the evolution of energy codes affects the resiliency of buildings to heat. In this study, we used whole-building energy simulations to investigate the performance of high-rise residential apartment buildings under a three-day power outage scenario coinciding with a three-day heat wave. We modeled buildings compliant with consecutive versions of two building energy codes and standards commonly used in the U.S. to investigate the effect of building code on resiliency in all distinct climate zones within the country. The results suggest that in most climates, indoor conditions exceed critical thresholds during the modeled scenario. Moreover, we observed a synergy between energy efficiency and resiliency to heat in warmer climates. However, in heating-dominated climates, newer codes can potentially have an adverse effect on heat resiliency of buildings.
KW - Building energy codes
KW - Energy efficiency
KW - Heat resiliency
KW - Heat waves
KW - Power outage
KW - Residential buildings
KW - Thermal comfort
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U2 - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.05.024
DO - 10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.05.024
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85046876691
SN - 0360-1323
VL - 139
SP - 86
EP - 94
JO - Building and Environment
JF - Building and Environment
ER -