Empirical Assessment of Passive Thermal Resilience in Buildings with Varying Heat Storage Capacity During Heatwaves and Power Outages

Marta Gortych (), Anna Staszczuk and Tadeusz Kuczyński
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Marta Gortych: Institute of Environmental Engineering, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafrana 15, 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland
Anna Staszczuk: Institute of Civil Engineering, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafrana 1, 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland
Tadeusz Kuczyński: Institute of Environmental Engineering, University of Zielona Góra, Prof. Z. Szafrana 15, 65-516 Zielona Góra, Poland

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-22

Abstract: This study evaluates the passive thermal resilience of two full-scale residential buildings during natural summer heatwaves and blackout-like conditions in a temperate European climate. The buildings share identical geometry and ventilation but differ in envelope mass and ground coupling. Building B1 is a masonry structure with a slab-on-ground floor, while B2 is a lightweight timber-frame house. In 2019, B1 underwent a retrofit in which floor insulation was removed to enable direct subsoil heat exchange. Three complementary frameworks were applied: model IOD, AWD, OEF, the indicators AF and αIOD, and the health-based scenario rating HE, HIHH, and WBGT. Across all metrics, B1 demonstrated superior resilience, with overheating fully eliminated after ground coupling was introduced. B2, in contrast, remained vulnerable under both moderate and extreme events. The findings highlight the critical role of thermal mass and soil buffering in maintaining safe indoor conditions without active systems. Under certain circumstances, omitting under-slab insulation can improve summer resilience without significantly compromising winter performance. A companion life-cycle analysis confirms lower cumulative carbon emissions for B1 under all SSP scenarios to 2100. Passive ground coupling thus emerges as a low-cost, maintenance-free adaptation strategy with co-benefits for mitigation and occupant safety.

Keywords: thermal resilience; passive cooling; heatwaves; power outage; ground coupling; full-scale experiment; temperate climate (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: 2025
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