[Tip] Peak Cooling Degree Days Indicator

The peak Cooling Degree Days CDD indicator is the most effective way to quantify the impact of 🌍 climate change concerning 🥵 heatwaves 🌊, urban heat island effects, and heat stress on 🏬 buildings. The indicator is helpful to estimate the cooling load occurring due to the increase in outdoor temperatures. According to ASHRAE Standard 169-2020 the calculation of the peak CDD requires the calculation of the base temperature 🌡️, which depends strongly on the rate of heat transfer across the building envelope.

If you wish to have a quick and accurate estimation of the overheating and mortality risks ☠️ in a building, I advise you to calculate the peak CDD during summer using local and real weather files (not typical meteorological years) and cross them against 🌞 summer mortality rates.

The peak CDD indicators provide a quick and simple estimate of climate change on building energy use and occupants' comfort without running tedious and complex simulations. One of the mistakes that many engineers and architects in Europe do when calculating the peak CDD is that they assume high base temperatures, above 15 C for calculation. They underestimate the high internal loads and high solar gains that require active cooling. Due to climate change, most European cities are already exposed to clear-sky conditions during summer. Also, the high insulation and airtightness rates of most newly constructed and renovated households require lowering the base temperature to reach at least 1 C.

Therefore, in our lab, we use the peak CDD indicator with the help of local weather data to evaluate the intensity of heat waves in cities, estimate mortality rates, and size cooling systems properly. My team has been focused during the last years on creating real-time peak CDD maps in cities during heat waves and pinpointing spatially the hot spots of high mortality risks and investigating climate-health impacts.

📣 Read and share the 📄 tip: https://lnkd.in/eHRVaYid

Thank you, to all colleagues at IEA Annex 80, the Lancet Countdown, and members of project Heat (European Climate and Health Observatory) for your inspiration.

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#climatechange #health #extremeheat #mortality #peakCDD #indicator