Climate Change Effect on Building Performance: A Case Study in New York

Kristian Fabbri, Jacopo Gaspari and Licia Felicioni
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Kristian Fabbri: Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, Sede di Cesena, 47521 Cesena (FC), Italy
Jacopo Gaspari: Department of Architecture, University of Bologna, Sede di Cesena, 47521 Cesena (FC), Italy
Licia Felicioni: University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings, Czech Technical University, 27343 Prague, Buštěhrad, Czechia Republic

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-19

Abstract: The evidences of the influence of climate change (CC) in most of the key sectors of human activities are frequently reported by the news and media with increasing concern. The building sector, and particularly energy use in the residential sector, represents a crucial field of investigation as demonstrated by specific scientific literature. The paper reports a study on building energy consumption and the related effect on indoor thermal comfort considering the impacts of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2018 report about temperature increase projection. The research includes a case study in New York City, assuming three different scenarios. The outcomes evidence a decrease in energy demand for heating and an increase in energy demand for cooling, with a relevant shift due to the summer period temperature variations. The challenge of the last decades for sustainable design was to increase insulation for improving thermal behavior, highly reducing the energy demand during winter time, however, the projections over the next decades suggest that the summer regime will represent a future and major challenge in order to reduce overheating and ensure comfortable (or at least acceptable) living conditions inside buildings. The growing request of energy for cooling is generating increasing pressure on the supply system with peaks in the case of extreme events that lead to the grid collapse and to massive blackouts in several cities. This is usually tackled by strengthening the energy infrastructure, however, the users’ behavior and lifestyle will strongly influence the system capacity in stress conditions. This study focuses on the understanding of these phenomena and particularly on the relevance of the users’ perception of indoor comfort, assuming the IPCC projections as the basis for a future scenario.

Keywords: climate change; building energy performance; IPCC; thermal comfort; building energy consumption; +1.5 degree; cooling increase (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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