COMFORT AT THE EXTREMES. INVESTING IN WELL-BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE

CO M F O RT AT T H E E XT RE M E S 2 0 2 4 INVE ST ING I N W E L L -B E I NG I N A C HAL L E NG IN G FU T UR E COM F OR T AT T H E EXTR EMES INVES TING IN WE LL-BEING I N A CHALLENG IN G FUTU RE Jessica Fernánde z- Agüe r a Samuel Domín guez-Ama rillo Susan Roaf INVESTING IN WELL-B EIN G IN A CHALLENGING FU T URE Editors: Jessica Fernánde z- Agüe r a Samuel Domín guez-Ama rillo Susan Roaf All rights are r eserved. N o part of this public ation may be reproduc ed, stored in a retr ieval system or transmitted in any form or by any me ans, elec tron ic, mechan ical, inc luding phot ocopyin g, recording or any informa tion retri eval sy stem, witho ut perm ission in w riting from the pub lisher. ISBN 978- 1-9161876-8- 9 © Copyright by Ecohous e I nitiat ive Ltd, Sev ille 20 24 Acknowledgemen t s This book is the result of collab orative work carried out within the fr amewo rk of the international network Comfo rt at the Extremes (CATE), which since its inceptio n has fostered the rigorou s exchange of knowl edge on environmental comfort, su st ain abili ty, and climate change adaptation in ex treme contexts. T he edito rs wish to expre ss their deep appreciation to all the rese archers who, from dive r se disci plines and regions ar ound the world, have contributed to th is collective work through t heir reflections , case st udie s, and i nnovativ e proposals. Special thanks are extende d to the University of Seville for its institution al support, and in particular to Prof. Pilar Mercade r Moyano, Director of the Univ ersity Inst i tute of Architec ture and Const ruction Scien ces; Prof. Ramón Pico Valimaña, Direc tor of the Higher Technica l School of Architec t ure; and Prof. Rosario Chaza Chimeno, Director of the Higher Technica l School of Building Engineering, for t heir co mmitment and support in the development of this editorial initiative. The editorial team also wishes to acknowle dge the support o f Ms. Juana M a ría Leal del O jo Chamorro, General Co ordinator for European Funds, Urban A genda, Sustainab ility, an d Strategic Plan s at the City Council of Seville, as well as M s. Susana Cayuelas Porras , Director of the Andalusia n H ousing and Reh abilitatio n Ag ency (AVRA), whose institutional involve ment enabled the alig nment of this scientific initiative with local and regional stra t egies on sustainabili ty and innovation. This book st and s as a testament to the value of networked collaboration and to the capacity of the i nternationa l scien tific community to a ddress, throug h sha r ed kno wledge, the environmen t al and social challenges of our time. To all individuals and institutions who made this possible, the editorial team extends its since rest g ratit ude . Prologue Susana Ca yuelas Porras 1 Juana María Leal del Ojo Chamorro 2 Climate Resil ience Build i ngs and Communities Ruiz, S.N. and Day , J.K. The Heat is On: Implications of Ext reme Weather on Older Adults’ He alth and Environmental S afety 4 Gabler, Braden; Jordan, Matthew; Day , Julia Kathe rine; Ruiz, Shelby Nicole. My Philosoph y: Behavioral Strategies to Redu ce Energy Use Under Extreme Conditio ns 14 Hostein, M., Moujalled , B., Guernouti, S. & Musy , M. How do occupan ts adapt to the heat in their homes: lesson s learned f rom semi-st ruct u red interviews and in-situ mea surements in ur ban dwelli ngs 22 Domínguez-To rres, C.A. Effect on indo or thermal co mfort of retrofitting social hou sing roofs in the Mediterranean climate using a highly e missive radiative cool coating 33 Şimşek Şengül, Ü., Şenyiğit Sarıkaya, Ö. Examining the relationship between therma l comfort and en ergy perf ormance in educa t ional structures 43 Nepal Garima & Rijal H.B. External thermal in sulati on retrofitting: A so lution for enhancin g building t h ermal performance 53 Subedi, R., Khadka, S., Naja, A., Rijal, H.B., Lamsa l Prativa Thermal comfort and en ergy saving pot en t ial of urban parks 63 Zaki, G., Rijal, H.B. , Aqilah, N. Evaluatio n of energy efficie ncy measurement method and thermal environ ment in data center based on lite rature review 72 Shamsaiee, M., E icker, U. Socio-Demog raphic Insi ghts into Urban Buildi ng Energy consump t ion 81 Teli, D., Femenias, P., Buse r, M. & Granath, K., S wanepoe l, M., Slunitschek, J. A., Persson, M. Overheating in the Nordics: chall enges in t he Swedish multi-r e sidential b uildi ng stock 92 Diaz, M., Hormaza bal, N ., Sills, P. The issue of wat er scarcity and its impact on schoolchil dr en’s comfort a nd wellbe ing 101 Gang, S., Cadima , P. Enhancin g User Comfort in Hot-dry Cli mate Dwell ings f or Future 109 Abuimara , T., Hobs on, B.W., Elehwany, H. & Abdeen, A. Exploring Future Passive Habitabil ity of a Canadia n Housing Archetype in Differen t Climate Zones 120 Hampo, Chima Cyril, H oque, Simi, Ph.D., Sch inasi, Leah, Ph.D. Overheating in Resid enti al Buildin gs 129 Chung, Daniel H . Examining Climate Chang e, Moisture Ris ks, and Retrofits for Hi storic Wood Fra m ed Building s Using Stochastic Simulat ions 144 Gkouvelou, Eleni , Stefanowicz, Magdalena Impact of shadin g accessories on summer comfort in attic sp aces 153 Meshram, K.K. , van der Horst, D, Smith, S., Bros-Wi lliamson, J. TOO HOT TO HANDL E? How resid ents in Nagpur, India are adap t ing to high summe r temperatures 161 Brideau, S. A., Wills, A., & Brown, S. Effect of New Canadia n Tiered Building Codes on Thermal Resil ience of Housing 172 Ventilation an d Indoor Air Qua l ity Milto, I., Erba, S., Sangalli, A., Carrilho da Graça, G., Garde , F., Pagliano, L. Design and performance verification methods for naturally ven tilated buildin gs from the expe rience of ABC 21 EU Pro ject 183 Trebilcock, M., Rivera, M.I., González, S., Medina , D., Rueda , I., & Monrea l, P. School lo cations in urban areas and their potential impact on indoo r air qual ity 200 Fernández-Agüera , J. & Sánchez-Muñoz , M. Indoor Air Quali t y Measuremen t Methodology in Publi c Transport 207 Bhadra, J., Beizaee , A., Ha rt escu, I. Impact of overhea t ed bedroom conditions on sleep thermal comfo rt and sleep quality based on an experimen t al study 215 Eijkelenboom , A., Tenpierik, M., Ottelé, M ., Vogt, M., Isabella, O., Caval lo, R., Bluyssen, P.M. Review o f empirical studie s on health and comfort in relation to building chara cteristics duri ng sum mer in Europe 224 Shoukry, F. and Goubran S. Improving Indoor Enviro nment Quality in Hig her Educationa l Institutions by E xamining Corre lations in Occupant Perce ption and Indoor Air Quality Parameters a t Different Ti m e Frames 234 Koene , F.G.H. , de Vries, S.B., Mesdaghi, B ., Bruel, D.M.M. , Kooger, R., Jacobs , P., The Cool Do wn Coach – An occupant oriented behaviou ral coach for e ffective ventil ative cooling 243 Vijlbrief, O., Spiekman , M. and solar shad ing Campagna , K.C. , Foucquier, A.F., Machard, A.M., Charlier, D.C. & Woloszy n, M.W. Data-driven approach to construct typical wi ndow behavior pro files during summer and heat waves : Insights from 76 na turall y ventilated French buildi ngs 253 García, G., Acosta , I., Campano, M .A. & Bustamante , P. Enhancin g Health, Energ y Efficiency, and Sa fety in Chil dcare Centers through Automated Cli m ate Control Systems: A Case Study in a Nursery in Sevil le 263 Natural light a nd physiological r es ponse under extre me conditions Kloura, A., Zaniboni , L., Toftum, J., Vasquez , N. G. Investigating the Relation ship Between Subjective Assessments and Spatia l Dayligh t Autonomy in Offices 269 Vasquez, N.G., Toftum, J. Exploring the impact of dayli ght quali ty on human responses und er warm t em perature : a living la b study 276 Perez Gonzalez , M. T. The Fragmented Light Shelf (FLS) as a System that improve na t ural lightin g and decrease the energy con sumption 285 Sepúlveda, A., Balakrishnan, P., Miño-Rodríguez, I. & Karmann, C. A simulation s tudy on the impact of windo w filter s on the non-image f orming effects of light, visual comfort, and thermal sen sation 295 Chiucchiu, A., M i suraca, I., Brembilla, E ., Pigliautile I., Tenpierik M., P isello A.L ., de la Barra Lueg mayer, P.P. & Luna-Navarro , A. Effect of Blue-Tinted Glazin g on T herma l and Visual P erception in Neu tral and Warm Therma l Conditio ns 305 Sadananda, A.D ., Khatakho, A.R., Christof fersen, J., Rupp, R.F., Gentile, N . Evaluatin g daylight, ther mal comfort an d operational ene rgy pe rformance of the Livin g Places: a compa rative study betwee n Cope nhagen and Kyiv 315 Rodríguez, P., Do mínguez- Amarillo, S., Esquiv ias, P. & Campano, M .A. Optimizin g Window Desi gn for Energ y Efficiency, Natural Light , and Occupant Well-being in Reside ntial Buil dings in Mediterranean Cli m a t es: A Case Study in Seville, Sp ain 325 Mino-Rodriguez , I., Balakrisnhan, P., Karmann, C., & Sepúlveda , A. Colou rful Daylight: Evalua ting the spectral transmittance o f da ylight through window films 335 Mota-Bernal , C., Domíngu ez- Amarillo, S., Busta mante, P. & Optimizin g Electric and Natural Lighting for He alth, Well-bein g, and Productivity in 24-Ho ur 346 Campano, M .A. Workspaces: A Case Stud y in Seville, Spain Design Interventi on in Buildings for the rmal comfort Delgado- Gutierrez, E., Torres - González, M., & Rub io Bellido, C. Impact of Clima te Change and Adaptive Comfo rt Strategies in Socia l Hou sing: A Study in Quito an d Esmeraldas 356 Kader, A., Al-Muhay min, A. Thermal Massin g As A R etrofit T ool Fo r Bette r Comfort In Mass Ho usin g Constructions In The Context Of U rban Slums In Dha ka 367 Kader, A. Exploring the Synergy of Therma l Mass and A ir Coolin g Systems in Multistorey Building s: A Comparative Case Study Across Diverse Climate Extremes 378 Blázquez, T., Suá rez, R., & Sendra, J.J. Passive Strategie s for Th ermal Comfort in Andalu sian Social Ho using Under a Cli mat e Change Scenario 389 Toledo, L., Lollini, R . Exploring strategies for resil ience to overheating in low-energy buil dings 399 Roberts, B.M., Amankwaa, E.F., Mensah, P. & Gough , K.V. Plywoo d ceilings reduce heat-health risks in tropical school classrooms 407 Cheung, T., M ihara, K., & Hasama, T. Redefinin g comfortable o ffices in tropica l climates: A case study on semi-ou t door wo rkspaces in Singap ore 414 Luz, P.C., Scarpa, G.P., Duarte, D.H.S. & Herna ndez Neto, A. Glazed balconie s: the po or thermal and ene rgy performance of São Paul o’s high-end apa rtments under current and future climate 424 Singhal, H., Badiei, A., Liyanage, C.L . Justifying Finding s on Passi ve Houses Towa r ds UK's Net Zero Target 434 Santos, L., Berger , C. & Hellwig, R. T. Indoor Therma l Landscape s: Investigating Thermal Transitions and Energy Performance in Workspaces 448 McCarthy, A., O’Hagan, J., Thanapornpakorns in, T., et al. A Decisi on-Support Tool to Increase the Up t a ke of MMC and Improve the Environ mental Impac t of the Irish Constru ction Industry 463 Andrews, C.J., Sha hid, Y., Andrews, A., et a l. Comparing a mbient and p ersonal measu rements o f exposure to urban heat s tress 473 Health and We llb e ing in the Buildings Torriani, G., Torresin , S., Lara-Ibeas, I., Albatici, R., Babich, F. Influence of indoor air poll utants , temperature , relative humid ity and build ing-related f ac tors on perceived air q uality (PAQ) in office building s: evidence from a field study 483 Mahdavi, A., Martí nez-Muñoz, I. & Berger, C. Assessing peo ple's perce ption of indoor- environmen t al quality: C an we improve the signal- to-noise ratio? 493 Adekunle, T. O . Summertime Tempera tures in the US Intermountain Sta tes’ Parks – A Ca se Study of Utah 500 P f a f ferott, J., V illegas Mier, O., Haag , W., Dev ineni, R. & Gasper, R. heatGUIde: A Self -Learnin g Indoor Heat Wa rning System 510 Baborska -Narozny, M., Dav is, B., Narozny, J., M i ller, C.A. Air condition ing as critical in frastructure in Arizona residential sec tor: Evide nce from intermitten tly cooled homes 519 Human Physi ology and Adaptati on Rupp, R. F., Piil, J. F ., Cub el , C., Nybo, L., Tof tum, J. Temperature d oes not af fect cognitive pe rformance of men and women differe ntly 529 Das, S., Subudhi, S. Analy sis of the hu m an b ody's exergy consu mptio n in various enviro nmen t al ci r cumstances 533 Bavaresc o, M., de Souz a, L.P., Bracht, M.K. , e t al. Human psycho -physiolo gical responses after outdoor-ind oor transitions during Brazil ian summe r days 541 Kobas , B., Kramer , T., Nomoto, A. & Koth, S.C . Common Prac tices in Physi ologic al Data Collectio n Studies in the The rmal Co mfort Field 551 Huizenga, C., Zhang , H., Schiavon, S., et a l . Establishin g Maximum Safe Indo or Tempera t u res for U.S. Residen tial Buildi ngs 565 Innovations in Pe rsonal Thermal Comfort Techn o logy Pasut, W., Marangon , P., De Carli, M., Lol li ni, R. Low energy comfort in co ol condition s with heate d shoes. 575 Kumar, N., Pratim, S., Bhattacharya Subjective assess m ent to desk level person alize d ventilation : A study from field 582 Gupta, A., Torriani, G., Torresin, S., Babich , F. Exploring the airflow gene rated by ceiling fa ns on a human body: a n experim ental study wi t h a thermal manikin 592 Abou Saleh, A., Youne s, J., Ghaddar, N. Experimental Inves tigat i on of Evaporation Dynamics throug h Intermittent Mist Flows: Exploring Duty Cy cles an d Frequencies 603 Rugani, R.R., Zhang , H. , Picco, M., Salvadori , G. & Fantozzi, F. A novel conduc tive-radia tive Personalised Environmental Cont rol Syste m (PECS): optimization and perform ance enhance ment 616 Rugani, R., Salvado ri, G., Picco, M., & Fan tozzi, F. How crucial a re Personal ised Environmen t al Control Systems (PECS) in newl y constructed offices? A comfo rt-energy case study perspe ctive 627 André, M., Rugan i R., Zha ng, H., Schiavon, S. , L a mberts, R. Boosting personal cooling with water: comp aring a desk fan and evaporativ e coolers 637 Allahham, O., Ghadda r, N. Optimizin g Energy and C omfort: A Sustainable Fusion of Personali zed and Passive Ven tilation Systems 646 Beskona kli , E.N ., Yann as, S., Gonçalves, J.C.S. Climate-Adap tive Urban Housing in Istanbu l: Integrating the Ve r nacula r Bay Window as a Functional an d Environm ent al Device 652 Cao, Y., Touchie, M ., Lee, S. Understandin g Ceilin g Fan Usage in Multi-Unit Reside ntial Buil dings: Patterns, Environ mental Influences, and Impact on Comfo rt 663 New Materials for Thermal Comfo rt Domínguez-To rres, C.A. Impact of agin g effect on t he energy performance of an ultra-emissive paint fo r radiative cooling of buildi ng r oofs 674 Zavrl, E., Žižak , T., Domjan, S., et al. Living Wall Wat e r Balance Model for Smart Irrigation 683 Shehzad, M.F ., St opps , H. An evaluatio n of the econo mic and technical aspects of employin g air source heat pu mps integrated with thermal e nergy storage for residential spa ce heating in Canada 692 Colclough, S. M. , Domoney, L., O’Donovan, A., et al. Financia l Analysis of Do mestic Renewa ble Energ y Solution s 700 Eduardo Gascón Alvar ez, Alexander Cur th, et al. Low-carbon building components for a hea t- resilie nt ar chitectu re: De sign framework a nd impact assess m ent 1454 Khova l yg, D. & P urev, U-U . Harnessing Tradi t ional Liv ing Experience to Foster Resili ence in M od ern Living 1463 Rivera-Góme z, C., Soto- Orozco, J., et al. From Sustainab ility to R egeneration: Assessin g the role of an urban gree n space for huma n well- being 1473 Schläpfer, F., Chatte rjee , A., Yazdanie, M., et al . Conceptual Fra mework for Resili ence Assessment o f S mart Energy Sys tems' flexibil ity provision 1480 Thermal comfort e valuatio n Paixão, P.P., Gonça l ves, J . C.S, et al. Copin g with t he heat in slu m buildings in Rio de Janeiro: Fieldwo rk and an alytical studies to support the self -built practice 1496 Chaudhary, U . , & Rijal, H.B. Seasonal a nd regional diffe rences of preferred temperature indoo rs and in semi-open space s in Nepale se houses 1506 Gaire, Rajan , Khadka, S., Rijal, H.B., & Gautam, B. Comparison o f thermal e nvironment o f traditional and modern house s during summer in cold climate of Nepal 1514 Shrestha, Sanjiv & Rijal, H.B. Literature review on comfo rt temperature, adaptive model and cl othing insula tion in dwelli ngs 1522 Paudel, Bhaga wati & Rijal H.B. Study on the rm al comfort zone for va rious climates of Nepale se dwell ings 1531 Shashikant Das &S udhakar Subudhi Analy sis of the hu m an b ody's exergy consu mptio n in various enviro nmen t al ci r cumstances 1539 Epilogue Roaf,S . & Nicol, F . Comfort at the Extreme s: New Thin king on Comfort in a Hea ting World 15 57 de Souza, L.P., Bavaresco, M., Geraldi, M. S., Bracht, M. K., Melo, A.P. & 2Hoffmann, S Heating and cooling chairs as PECS in a Living Lab: a field study in a transitional season 15 48 Prologu e COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 1 By Andalusia n Housing and Rehabili tat ion Agenc y Susana Cayue las Porras Andalu sia, in souther n Spain , is one of the European r egion s most vulner able to t he impacts of clima te change. It s diverse geog raphy—inclu din g coast al pla ins, mountain ranges, warm valleys, and semi-arid z ones like Alm ería—give s rise to a wide r a nge of clima tic con ditions that directly affec t how buil dings are designed, used, and rehabili tat ed. Faced with these challenge s, t he Regional Government of And alusia has m ade sustainabili ty , energy ef ficien cy, and thermal comfort core pil lars of it s housing policy, with special empha sis on protecting the most vulne rable groups. Throu gh the Andalu sian Housin g and Rehabili tat ion Agency (AVRA), over 73,000 public dwell ings are m an aged across u rban and rural con texts—ma ny in ar eas w her e extreme summer temperatu r es gen erate high energy demands and require context -sensitive int erventions . The Andalu sian Climat e Action Plan projects an aver age increase of up t o 2.2 °C in maximum summer temperatures by 2050. I n r espo nse, t argeted initiatives have been launche d to improve h ousing re silien ce. Recent e fforts include the R EACT -EU prog ram (2021–2022), with an investmen t of €20.8 milli on, and a further €15.8 million alloca ted to 13 major energy r ehabil itation projects bet ween 2 024 and 2 025. These ac t ions have alread y enabled many families to r edu ce their energy consumption by up t o 30%, whil e significantly improving indo or comfort throughout the year. AVRA has also adopted a n in novation-driven st rategy, supporting ap plied research an d develop ing technologica l solutions that address the specific climatic and social conditions of the r egio n. The agency has become an active partne r in European pr oje ct s such as SEBAI, FUTUR IS, and COSMIC, which explore r enew able ener gy use, the energy upgrading of publi c housing, and the a daptation of heri tage build ings to evolvi ng climate demands . Looking ahead, the Reg ional Gover nment’s housin g policy envisio ns a to tal investment of €800 million in 2025, with at least €8 m illi on dedicated to improving the e nergy performanc e of the public housing stock. This e f fo rt is part of the broader “ Viv e en And alucía” Plan, w hic h combines new social housing initiat ives with targ eted int e rventions in 23 existing r e sidential areas, benefitting app roximately 5,000 ho mes an d mobilising over €80 milli on in investment. This comprehen sive s trategy integra tes housin g with sus t ainable urba n developmen t and environmen tal stewardshi p, includin g t he managemen t of metropo litan gree n spaces such as Alamil lo Park in Seville and Pinar de la Alga ida in the Bay of Cádiz. It reflects a shared vision: that housi ng m ust be bo t h a social righ t and a climate solu t ion. The present volume aligns with that vision. It forms part of a collective internationa l effort to rethink housing and the built environment as fundamental tools for advancing climat e adaptation, social eq uity, and human well -being in the face of ex t re me conditio ns. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 2 By the City Council of Se ville Juana María Leal del Ojo Chamorro Thermal comfort in extreme climates is not merely a technical issue—it is, above all, an urban, social, and political challe nge. From the City Council of Sevill e, we are pr oud to introduce this publi cation, which ali gns close ly with one of ou r city's key priorities: adapt ing the buil t en vironment t o climate change while safeguarding the health and well-bein g of our communitie s. The European Mission for Climate-Neut ral Cit ies, in whic h Seville is hono red to pa rticipate alongsid e six other Spanis h cities—Madrid, Ba r celona, Valencia, Zarag oza, Vitoria, and Vall adolid—provides an ambitiou s and cooperative framework for progress. This boo k contributes meaningfull y to that mission, offering technical and scie ntific insights across four essential areas: sus tainable building design adapted to local climate realiti es, t he protectio n of publi c health in extreme envi ronments, social equity in the eco logical transition , and the education and trainin g required to achieve dee p an d lasting transforma tion . In Seville, these princip les are being translate d into action. O ur Clim at e City Contract, develop ed within the Mission framework, reflects a strong all iance between local government, academia , and the broader commu nity. A key example is our pa rticipation in the URBA NEW proj ect, whic h brings together Spain’s Mission cities to identif y and validate key environmen t al and climate indicators for ene rgy-ef ficient building rehabilitatio n. Locall y, we a re monitoring ove r 200 public b uildin gs t o assess variables such a s temperature, humidity, CO ₂ con centration, air quali t y, and carbon monoxide levels . This data is being used to inform targeted interven tions, ensuring decisions ar e base d on measurabl e needs and outcomes . Each action is evaluated in terms of its con tribution to health, habitabili ty , and energy p erformance, with a clear cost-bene f it rationa le. Our co mm i tment ext end s be yond imme diate improvemen ts. We are also identifying regulatory and technical gaps to ensu r e t ha t t he m ost effective solutio ns can be scaled and integrated into policy frameworks. In this way, Seville is helpin g shape a forward-lookin g model of urban decarbon ization and climate resil ience. The 2030 Agenda of the City of Sevill e places environment al sustainabili ty and the r eduction of greenhouse gas emissio ns at t he cor e of ou r strategy f o r urban develo pment. Achie ving the Sustainab le Develop m ent Goals will require not only technologic al and regulatory innovatio n but also stronger and more inclusive publi c institutions. This book, along with th e international dialo gue from which it origin ates, is a vital tool in that ongoing effort. It off ers a wealth of be st practices, comparative analyses, and expert contributions tha t will su pport evidence -based po licymakin g and foster coll ective learning. We are convinced that add ressing clima t e extremes requires a broad coalitio n— governments , unive r siti es, ind ustry, an d cit ize ns working togethe r. We h ope that this publi cation inspires such collaboration and encourages all its r eade r s t o remain engaged—in research, in practice, an d in shaping the su staina ble cities of tomo rrow. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 3 Climat e Resilience Build i ngs and Communities COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 4 The Heat is On: Im plications of Extrem e Weather on Older Adu l ts’ Health and Environmenta l Safe ty 1 Ruiz, S.N. and 2* Day, J.K. , *lead presenter 1 [email protected] , W ashi ng t on State Un iversity, United States of A m erica 2 Washington State U nivers ity, United States of A meri ca Abstract Older ad ult s, a populat ion that is ra p idly grow i ng across the globe, a r e more sev e rely a nd unproportional ly affected by e xtreme conditions, wh ich a re expec ted to be more fre quen t because of climate change. While much is known about the phys iolog ic al and possible psycholog ical changes tha t happen as one ages, very little research has been done in the field of human building i nteraction s, behavior, and how de sign can impact an d improve the quality of life for aging adults. This paper will e xplore extreme-weather, older adul t health, and sa fety r elated findings of a mixed methods study. Research ers interviewed 65 people over the age of 65 and findings re vea l meaningful stories, which were shared from individuals living in private or gani zed inde pende nt and assisted livi n g care communities in the greater Seatt le ar ea. Many older adults move i nto car e settings to me et th ei r physical heal th a nd/o r so cial needs as they age, sometimes to be closer to adult children, but oftentimes because they cannot li ve in t heir homes anymore. The stories presented here depict t h e challenges, conce rns, and da ngerous experie nces participants have had t hroug h th eir li fetimes and their residency in th e comm unity in terms of safet y and comfort in th e extremes. Primary outcomes of this study point to the need t o i nclude older adults in the concept u a l and pre - design phases of communities, which are desig ned to serve them, such that the unique exp eriences a nd circumstances they f ace can be thoughtfully considered i n the design of a facilit y me ant for this population. Addi tionally, we di scovered numerous exa mples of bu ildings, their design, or their interfaces, w hich inhibited a n occupants' ability to u se th eir apartments/space s as the y wi sh to, l et alone safely. Findings point to a shift i n how design is approached for this populat ion, especially unde r extreme conditions. Keywords Older Adults, Qua l itative Research, O ccupant S afety, Human Building In t eractions Introduct ion Elderly Global Po pulation The global elde rly population is experiencing unprecedented growth, driven by inc reasing life expectancy and declining bi rth rates. The United Nations pr ojects that by 2050, the number of people aged 65 and over wi ll exceed 1.5 billion, more than doubling from c urrent figures ( UN, 2019) . Th is demographic shift has si gnificant implications for society. Healthcare syst ems will fa ce heightened demands as the e lder l y populatio n expands. Older adults typically require more me dical long-term care, potentially stra ining existing hea lthcare infrastructures and pro mpting the need fo r policy reforms to ensure sust ainab le care (WHO, 2023). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) underscores that managing chronic c ondi ti ons and pr oviding adequate support for aging populations will be c ritical challenges for health systems worldwide, especially fa cing the i mpacts of climate change and e xtreme heat conditions (CDC, 2024a, 2024b) . Overall, the grow t h of the elderly population presents both challenges and oppor tu nities for societal adaptation. Ad dressing these issue s COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 5 will require comprehensiv e strategies in healthcare, e conom ic pl anni ng, and s ocial se rvices to ensur e that the needs o f older adults are m et while maintaining soc ietal progress. Climate Change an d Elderly Hea lth In t he U nit ed S tates an d around the wo rld, extreme weather events are occurring with a larming frequency and intensity, surpassing earlier predictio ns (Un i ted Nations Environment Progra mme, 2024). Regions previously known for mi ld climates, such as the Pacific North west, are now facing unusually ha rsh summers and winters ( Elsn er et al., 2010; W hite, 2023). This shift a cross the planet is marked by i ncrea singly severe and prolonged t ropical storms, unmanag eable wildfires, disr uptiv e floods, and frosts that were once considered rare, "hundred-year" events (USGCR P, 2018). These changes in weather patter ns impo se significant cha l lenges on communities, which must not only provide immediate relief but also e nhance th eir pr eparedness for future extreme c onditions. While often less visible than hurricanes o r floods, extreme he at poses a sever e risk to hu m an health, being the leading global weather-rel a ted cause of death (WHO , 2023). Extreme heat is particularly dangerou s for older a dults, indi vidua ls with c hronic illne sses, a nd those withou t adequa te cooli ng resources (Hughes & Natarajan, 2019). Extre me heat is a period characterized by h igh heat and/or high humidity with temperatures a bove 90 degr e es F ahrenheit for a t least t wo to t hree day s (CDC, 2024b). In extreme heat, the body works harder t han usual to maintain a nor mal temperature, w hich can lead to exhaustion, organ failures, or even death. Older adults, particularly t hose aged 65 and over, are at heightened risk during e xtreme heat events due to s e veral medical vuln erabilities. As peopl e age, thei r abil ity to r e gulate body temperature dimi nish es. Swea t glands become less effective, a nd the insulating layers of fat in t he skin lose their functionality, making it harder for ol der adults to cool themselves (Schellen e t al., 2010). This inability to adjust to sudden tempera ture changes or e ndure constant extreme temperatures withou t proper climat e cont rol poses significant risks. There i s no sing le te mperature thre shold for da nger; instead, risk de pe nds on individual acclimatization, humidity, airflow, and sun e xposure (Hansen et a l., 2011; Hughes & Natarajan, 2019; Tsoulou et al., 2020). Chronic conditions like heart disease, which afflicts over 20 milli on adults in the U.S., and environ m ental fa ctors like wil dfire pollution f urther increase the vulnerability of older adult s (ATS, 2023; Balmain et al., 2017; Ki rk et al., 2018). They a re more prone to heat-related c ondition s such as heat stroke, heat exhaustio n, and dehyd ra tion, a s we ll as dangerou s respiratory or p ul monary issues (Kriebel-Gaspar ro, 2024) . T h i s increased susceptibility is often compounded by preexist ing health conditions that make it harder for their bodies to cope with stressful weather. Older adults often have a reduced se nse of thirst and ma y be on medications that exacerbate fluid loss, such as diure tics for hypertensio n or diabe tes (Li e t al., 2023; Meade e t al., 2020). In 2023 alone, e xtreme heat resulted in nearly 120,000 e mergen c y room visits in the United States, acc o rding to a report from the Centers for Disease Control a nd Preventi on (CDC) (Vaidy anathan et al., 2023). Extreme heat a nd c limate warming is expected t o cause increased mortality rates in elderly popul ations world w ide, gi ven their increased risk facto rs (Chen et al., 2024; Kinay et al., 2018). The impact of climate ch ange on ol der ad ults extends beyond immediate healt h risks. The Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) notes th at increased f requency and intensit y of extreme weather events, such a s hur ricanes a nd floods, c an di srupt essential services and i nfrastructure, disproportionate ly affectin g older adults who may h ave mobility is sues or req ui re specialized care (EPA, 2021) . Additionally , t he World Meteorologic a l Organization (WMO) emphasizes that older adults are more likely t o l ive i n a reas w i th inadequate housing or insufficient access to air conditioning, wh ich f urth er exacerbates their risk during extreme weather e vent s (WMO, 2022). As climate change a ccelerates, th ese disruptions can l ead to increas ed stress , displacement, an d deterioration in overal l well- bein g for o lder population s. For ol der adults who live in long-term care settings, (such as t he participants of this study who reside in i ndepende nt or assisted communities) it is ultimately the duty of the community’s operating company to provide th e infrastructure that ensures s afe environmental conditions to its r esident s. However, such a s the case i n the Pacific Northwest, t he danger of extreme he at is further exace rbated COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 6 in regions whe re buildings and their cooling systems were n ot designed to handle a higher coolin g capacity than what was formerly required of t he climate zone . In areas wh e re heat events are infrequent, older a dults may fa ce other ba rriers to achieving comfort. Due to utility costs, lifes tyle choices, fina ncial means, or knowled ge to mana ge their comfort effectively, older adults often face financial a nd other capabil ity ba rrier s to imp roving their comfort in heat eve n t s (Hansen et al., 2011) . Additionally, old er adult s may not understand how t o use their program m able digital apar tment thermostat because of i nterface, familiarity, user experience, a nd other complexity-based factors (Brajnik & Giachin, 2014). Bec ause hea twaves are associated with e levated mortality and m orbidity rates, this unde rscores the urgent need for adapting built environ ments and bui lding i nterfaces to better enable vulnerable gr oups to m anage their c omfo rt independ ently and flexibly. Despite th e known risks, research on how c limate change affects elderly health wi thi n the built e nvironment remains somewhat li mited, hig h l ighting a critical gap i n planning and design t hat needs to be addressed to protect this vuln erable population effectively. W hile there is significant research on climate chang e and the built environment at a gene ral level (Enker & Morrison, 2020; New et al., 2017) and recen t investigations into comfort modeling for this demographic, better understand ing elderly comfort behaviors in the built e nvi ronment, and the qual ity of life possible to older adu lts with a changing climate (Giamalaki & Kolo kotsa, 2019; Molinsky et al., 2020; Molinsky & Forsyth, 2023), still , ver y little is known about how commu n ity-based residential design and interface accessibility affects t he quality of life of o lder adults in the cont ext of a cha nging climate. Methodology This study incorporated qualitative a nd narrative t echniques to explore how older adult s’ heal t h, comfort, and interactions wi th buil dings have evolv ed over time and will be impacted a s the climate changes. It involved one-on-one interviews, foc us gr oups, site tours, photographs, observations , researcher notes, and visi t s t o private residen ces t o gather a comprehensive view of th e participan t s' experiences. This paper will explore extreme-weathe r, older adul t health, and safety related findings of this study as it rel ates to sel ec ted stories and experien ces of the resident ial particip ants . Recruitment and Pa r ticipan ts The researchers visi ted nin e different senior li ving communities of varying sizes and t ypes within the greater Seattle area, in the United States of America. Participants were full-time residents of independent or assisted l iving communities, over the a ge of 65, and were cognitively capable of providing informed consen t. Re crui tment was conduc ted through recommenda t ions from c ommunity staff t o e nsure par ti cipants were both w illing and able to engage i n inter v iews. Participants wer e selected by th eir community staff based on their time within their commun i ty, ex perience with various types of living environment s, and t hei r abi lity t o share how these e nv ironments impacted their lifestyle and well-bei ng. Those with cognitive decline, who might not accurately recall past experien ces or who would bec ome distressed, were sensitively handled, but ultimately excluded f rom the s tudy. Each participant was interviewed be cause of t heir own volunteerism and c ommitment to furthering research in senior living design. Additionally, the participants were recruited based on being active members of their respective communities and w e re eager to share their and t heir peers’ feedback on specific community f eatures, many c oming with lists of conversation topics to addres s. A small group of participants extended furth er of fer s for our team to tour their private living quarters at a few of the communities, creating g reater understanding o f their preferenc es a nd li mitations, with th e added benefit of observing the participants navigate their personal spaces, if the int erview was not originally held there. Data Collection Data collection occu r red in July and August 2021. The study included forty one-on-one interviews across nine c om munities, a nd f ive focus g roup conversations, in wh ich par ticipants had the opportunity t o tell sto ries about their lives. Interviews were semi structure d and lasted up to an hour long, discussing topics su ch as t he persons demograp hics, previous and current l iving conditions, how buildings have changed over ti me, how their abilities to use buildings has c hange d, lifestyle and daily COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 7 routines, and design preferences for building fe at ures – within both shared ame n ities of the communities and their own living spaces. Depending on COVID-19 policies, i nterviews wer e held in private spaces within t he community centers or in pa rticipants’ r esidences. All interviews were audio recorded for transcription, a nd additional data were gathered through c ompanio n documents, which included demographic inf ormation, notes, and observations regarding participan ts' physical and cognitive states. To ensure confidentiality, participants were assi gned unique ide nt ifiers prior to data analysis. Data Analysis After data collection, t he t ranscripts we re cleaned t o remove any poten tial ly identifying info rmation. The analysis f oll owed th e Kawakita and Haskins L isle models of affinity diag ramming to establish themes and codes (Haskins Lisle et al., 2020; Kawakita, 1982). Three researchers rev iewe d and coded three sample interviews, which were then organized into an online concept boar d f or themati c analysis. This process generated a structured c odebook used in further a nalysis with QRS NVivo software, following Saldaña's iterative c oding method (S aldaña, 2016). The analysis foc used on various aspects, i ncluding community characteristics, pa rticipant demographi cs, comfort, safety, technology use, and environmental pr eferences. Mu ltiple rounds of coding refined the data, with constant checking and val i dation by the res earch te am to ensu re accuracy. Limitations The s tudy had several li mitations. Participant sampling was selective, relying on community staff recommendations, which may have led to a bi as towards more socially active or posit ive residents. The re search was also limit ed to a sp ecific geogra phic are a i n t h e Pacific Northwest, which may not fully re p r esent the broader range of senior l iving commun ities . Next, the data collection period of this study co incided with a n unprecedented heat wave in t he re gion, elevating responses and feedback regarding the topic of extreme weather, climate change, a nd t he discomforts that participants experienced during this time (White, 2023). Fu r thermo re, the residen t s of the t arge t ed commun it ies, by default of t heir living c onditions, were genera lly economically well-of f a nd abl e t o afford t he accommodation pro vi ded by their for -pro fit, private, se nior livi ng companies. Despite the se limitations, t he st u dy provi de d va luable i nsigh ts and served as a pr elim inary inve stigation for a larger international study as a part of the International Energy Agency En ergy in Buildi ngs and Co mmunities Programme’s former Annex 79 and future Annex 95, which will offer a more comprehen sive analysis across cultural, soci o-economical, and regional fac tors. Results While this is a relatively small-scale study, ther e wer e many meaningful stories told about bui lding safety, personal wellbeing, me ntal he alth, and many of the participants had valuable recommenda tions that they feel would improve their experience staying in seni or living commun ities. While the data that resulted from this study is highly saturated with important takeaways re garding the w ay that seniors interact with their buil t environment, it also tells the storie s that c apture t heir pe rsonhood and lived experiences with in their living spaces. The findings presented here depict t he challenges, concerns, and dang erous e xperience s par ticipan ts have ha d through th eir l ifetimes a nd thei r re sidency in the community in terms of s afety and comfort in the extremes. Re s ults presented in this paper are organized by conceptual theme as it relates to the t opi c of the ma nuscript and conferenc e. This paper does not i nclude direct quotes from participants, or a ll themat ic r esults de rived from the st udy, as many of these f indings are reported elsewhere both internally and externally ( CITE se nior living report, Healthy bu ildings paper, ACEEE pape r) . The Changing Buil t Environmen t Across Their Lifeti me The research engaged indi viduals aged 65 to 105, each of whom shared deeply pe rsonal narratives reflecting th eir diverse experiences w i th homes, t ravels, and l ife eve nts. Participa nts presented a wide range of mobility issues, physical statures, he alth needs, mental and cogni ti ve capacities, as well as varying sensory abili ties and leve l s of community involve ment. The participa nts’ physical s tatures COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 8 varied from 4'6" t o 6'7", and their profession al a nd personal background s included roles such as secretaries, engineers, builders, sc i entists, wr it ers, journalists, gardeners, far m ers, wo rld travelers , entrepreneurs, historians, milit ary personnel , and fa mily m embers inc luding paren ts , spouses, wi dows, and grandparents. Many participants recounted t heir childhood experien ces in family farmhouses, de scribing th e absence of m odern ameni ties and the routines of fe tching water and c ookin g on wood-fired stoves. They also reflected on their t ransiti ons t hrough different life stages, fr om newlywed apa rtment livin g to homeownership, parenthoo d, and retirement. T heir exper iences with ho m e envi ronments e vol ved in response to their changing lif e circumstances and family needs. A recurrent theme was the contrast between past and present building technologies a nd societal norms. Participants frequently noted how contemporary buildings and lifestyle pra ctices differ markedly from t hose they enc oun tered in their earlier years, emphasizing the si g nificant technologica l a dvancements and e nvironmen tal changes that have occurred over the last century. These narratives revealed that participants have witn essed substantial prog ress in building te chnol ogies, c omfort systems, and utility service s. Older participants reminisced a bout the seaso nal delivery of oil for heating and the shift to e lectric heating systems. They also discuss e d soc ietal c hanges affecting buil ding standards, such as the end of indoor smo king, t he identification of hazardou s substances like lead and a sbestos i n construction materials, and the introduction of regulatio ns for fire sa fety, including sp rin klers and emergency exi t s. For many, mov ing to care s ettings beca me a necessity due to physical hea lth issues, the desire to be clo ser t o family, or the impracticality o f maintaining their pr evious homes. Many participants disclosed t heir dec isions to move w ere led by safety c oncerns or de siring less space to maintain. Some shar ed their desire to be closer to their adult children, their preferr ed recreation, or entertainment venue s. Senior livi ng residents chose the location the y lived in as they we re f amil iar with the area, their ne w apartments shared a similar, if not the same, view they saw daily from t heir family home before mov ing into a care setting. Stories about their attachm ents to views, to the climate, to the lands caping style, were all reminiscent of their younger life. Som e residents appreciate their apartment place ment looking over the community garden, a s they were li felong gardeners, a nd could see the progress of th eir herb plot from afar. Others appreciated ha ving maple trees outside their patio, as it reminded th em of the trees fr om the farm they gre w up on. Many enjoyed overlooking t he water in the s ame direction their family home did, a bl e to point ou t landmarks, knowing e very building, bird species, or pl ane mo del flown overhead. Vie ws are not on ly captivating for t hese people, but they a re also fille d with memories, an d a de ep connection to t he environment they are a par t of, especially as the area and climate has cha n ged over time. De dica ted outdoor spaces i n the gardens, filled with roses, edible landscapes, or swaying trees and reeds and grasses were some of the r esidents ’ favo r ite places to be when the we ather permitted, giving them freedom to wande r a nd enjoy some fresh air on the ir own voli tion. Residents also high li ghted their preference for outdoor spaces that facilitated a bala nce betwe en tranquility and ac ti vity . G ar dens with roses, e dible plants, or na tural elements were pa rticul arly valued, providing opportun ities for outdoor enjoyment. Participants frequen tl y mentione d t hat their choice of c omm unity was influe nced by factors suc h as proximity to family and city amenities. However, some expressed regret over not thoroughly c onsidering t he qua lity a nd frequency of outdoor access in thei r current communities , citing issues such as noisy streets, unappealing s u rroundings, and inadequate protection from hars h environmental conditions. In summary, the fin d i ngs underscore the pr ofound impact of historical a nd technological changes on the li ved e xperiences of older a dul ts. The personal stories shar ed by participants illuminate how evolving building technologies, societal norms, and environm ental conditions h ave shape d t heir interac tions with their homes and c omm unities th roughout their lives. Unexpected Con sequence of Weath er-Related Power Fai lures During the early phase s of data c ollec tion, between June 25 th and July 2 nd, 2021 , temperatures in the greater Seattle a rea reached as high as 107 degrees Fahr enheit, nearly t en degrees beyond historic records and 20 to 30 degrees higher t han the r egion al a verage. This unprecedented heat led to mu ltiple COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 15 building tr anspo r tation equip ment. Despite the recognition of PPLs as a critical area f or reducing building energy consumpti on, there remains a notable la ck of adoption of comprehensive co mmercial strategies to m anage these loads (Van Sant et al ., 2024). In 2018, PPLs accounted f or 28% of e nerg y consumption in c ommerci al buildings ( EIA 2022). While PPLs a re often viewed as an ac cess ible target for e nergy reduction efforts, im plementing effective strategies to m anage these loads is essentia l for mitigating the i mmediate impacts of climate change and reducing ener gy expenditu res. Occupant engagement prog r ams are designed to a ctively involve building oc cupants in pr actice s a nd behaviors that enhance energy efficienc y and contribute to overall sustainab ility, including re ducin g personal PPL’s. These programs leverage a c om bination of educational initiatives, behaviora l interventions, and technical strategies to influence how occ u pants interact with their building’s energy systems and resources. Th e prim ary objective of such pr ogra m s is t o optimize e nergy usage, thereby reducing operational costs and minimizing environmental impacts. ( Pivo, 2010; Ross & Drehobl, 2016; SBER, 2012). In high-performance or certified buildings with strict energy requirements, the primary aim of occupant e ngagement programs is to fost er awareness and e ncourage beh avioral changes that lead to more efficient energy consum pti on within buildings. O ccupant engagement programs typically focus on education, awareness, be havioral interventions, technical support, and social norms that are carefully construc ted via social program m ing (Arpan et al., 2015; Boks et al., 2018). O ccupan t engagemen t programs have si gnifica nt potential for reducing the i mpacts of climate change. By optimizing e nergy use w ithin buildings, these progr ams c an he lp lower overall e nerg y demand, reduce ca rbon emissions, a nd cont ribute to broader climate goals. Eff ective occupant engagement not only impr ove s energy efficiency but also supports the transitio n to more susta inab le building prac tices. For example, when occupants are actively involved in e nergy conservation e fforts, the cumu lative effect of their i ndividual actions can lead to substantial r eductions in energy consumption an d em issions. Moreo ver, as buildings become more energy- efficient, the strain o n energy produc tion and distribution systems is reduc ed, further dim i nishing the environmen tal impacts. Historically, policymake rs, building own ers, and oper ations professionals have often overlooked th e potential of occupant en gagement in improving buildi ng efficiency. Whi le subs ta ntial cap ital improvements and automation are common ly use d to cut energy use, occupant engage ment programs offer a f lexible and cost-effective alternative, especially when other measures are infeasible. These programs, though sometimes challenging t o implement, c an si gnific antly enhance efficiency by reducing energy and res ource use, fostering bu ilding community, and pr omo ting occupant wellness. Engaging occupants i s a r elatively underutilize d st rategy th at complement s e x istin g e fficiency measures and helps achieve performan c e requirements. U.S. aca dem ic instit uti ons are confro nting significant challenges r elated to c limate change, rising building maintenance costs, and mount ing pressure f rom stud ents advocat ing for strong er environmental ste wardsh i p. The impact of climate cha nge has heig htened th e urg e ncy f or universi ties to adopt sustainable practices, while increasing operational a nd m aintenance costs strain budgets. Many rely on state or private sector investment f or capital infrastructur e improvements and maintain millions of square feet for laborator ies, instruction, faculty and staff offices, am ong oth er re sident ial and service facilities. Concurrently, students and staff are increasingly de ma nding that thei r institutions take m eaningfu l a ction to address environmental concerns (Kinol et al., 2023; Murray, 2018). By involving studen ts and employees i n sustainability efforts, universities can enha n ce e n ergy efficiency, reduce operational costs, and strengthen their commi tment to environ m ental responsibilit y (Allen & Ma rquart-Pya t t, 2018). Examples of universi ties engaging their local or student populations in energy efficiency focused e ngagement programs are increasingly plentifu l, but nationwide, are underutilized (Arp an et al., 2015; B rewer et al., 2011 ; Esl amnoor & Vural, 20 21). In t his paper , we wil l explore two specific c ase studies th at ill ustrate successful te nant engagemen t programs at colleges on t he western coast of the United S tates of America, highligh t ing effective strategies for re duci ng energy use and promoting sustainab i lity. By analyzing these examples, t he findings a im t o demo nstrate how occupant e ng agement can b e a pow e rful lever in reducing the environmental i mpacts of buildings and suppo rti ng b roader climate cha nge mitigation efforts. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 16 Successful Occupan t Engagement and Behavior Cha nge: There are many mo dels of be havio r change t hat help understand how occupants might be have in buildings, and in turn, how to change their behaviors to those we might desire. This information helps change th ese behaviors or helps fix the pro blem that c aused these i nd ividuals t o perform t he behavior in the first place. The Theo r y of Planned Behavior is a model built upon the theory of Rea soned action (Ajzen, 1991). This behavioral t heory presents th ree m odels: attitude to ward a specific behavior or behaviors, the s ubject ive norm (the way that valued indi viduals in our liv es expect us to ac t), and the perceived behavioral control which is th e de gree to which a n indi vidu al can control the give n behavior. This c ulminate s int o the final behavior that the i ndividual presents. If it is possible to determine the degree of t he thr ee driving factors and m odify a t least one of them, t he i ndivid ual can present a different behavior t hat was not p resented before. Many studies argue th e importance of understanding the determinants of individual occupa nt motivations and t he impact of such behavior s on the performance of a bui ldi ng (Aza r and Menassa 2 015; Gandhi and Brager 20 16; Happle, Fonseca, and Sc hluete r 2018; Kim, Sc hiavon, and Brager 2018; Zha o e t al. 2015), howe ver, methods of de epl y understanding a nd predicting occupant behaviors from a m otiv ational standpoin t a re not well established. Michie, Stralen, and West's COM-B model for behavior change identifies capabil ity (C), opportunit y (O), and motivation (M) as essential components f or altering behavior (B) (Michie et al. , 2011). Thi s model aids in unde r standing the behav i oral cont ext and determining ap propriate intervention strategies. Typically, CO M-B is paired with the behavior change wheel (BC W ), which includ es a variety of intervention methods such as educat ion, training, persuasion, restriction s , and environmenta l restructuring to utilize in a gi ven scenario. The COM- B mode l and associated i nterventions can be utilized to enhance engage m ent with building occupants, no tably, focusing on the "M" (motivation) componen t t o l everage human beha vio ral pa t terns t o get building o cc up ants t o display pre f erred energy behaviors. Research in the psychologi cal field of pr o-env ironmental behavior profiling (Markowitz et al., 2012), energy-efficiency ga mification (Morgan ti et a l., 2 017; Sintov et al., 2016 ), and other energy-related decision making in people leverages this concept of m otivation, whethe r through comparative social norming or t angible extrinsic motivators, such as incentives or r ecognit ion for ‘correct beha viors (Graffeo et al., 2015). A successful training pr ogram should incorporate multiple methods of educati on, provide opportuni ties for i nteractive, experiential learning with in th e building cont ext, leverage techniques that facilitate motivation, r ein forcement, retention, fe edback, goal setting and compet ition, and explain the rationale behind the need for tr aining and how it will benefit the occupants ( Day & Gunderson, 2015). Fur ther, oc cupants need t o unders tand that building operators m ight have goals for the energy usage of th e building, a nd not follow ing practices set out by operators might inhibit their ability to hit thes e energy goa ls. Example 1: Stan f ord Sust ainable Energy Man age ment Progra m California’s Stan ford Univers it y has multiple progra ms t hat help demonstrate the benefits of ene rgy incentive and education and utiliz es a multi-faceted approa ch t o engage its building occupants acros s its facilities (Stanfo r d, 2023). Ke y s trategies of Stanf ord’s occupant e ngage ment approach i nclude a concerted educa t ional campaign t o university st aff and students, behavi oral incentives and gamification, real-time feed ba ck on energy use or other r esources, organized com munity engagements, and a f ocus on c omm unicating and educating about resilient building infrastructu re improve ments, such as r eplacing over cons umptive buil ding systems. Another tactic used by Stanford is increas ing its transparency in cam pus o perations, such as p roviding both in per so n and v irtual tours o f green certified bu i ldings, as we ll as campus waste ma nagemen t, c ompo sting facilit y, st ormwate r tre atment facilities to include camp us use rs and he lp them unders tand the systems tha t help operate their university. Since 2001, targeting l abs and faculty research center s, Stanford’s winter closure program has saved a cumulative 5 m illion dollars, cutting power and other unessential ser vices to university facilities when unused over winter bre ak as a part of its Cardinal Green Buildings ca mpaign . Other motivational programs leve raged by the university in l aborator i es is a co mmon “shut t he sash” campaign o r competition, incentivizing research staff in reducing un necessary energy waste from ope n fume hoods. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 17 Stanford’s Integrated Control and Analy ti cs Programs ( IC AP) m anage the institutions ’ central c ontrol system modernization i nitiative t o perfect and reduc e energy system usage in buildings. Stanford also has a unique Lab Program Rebate program which targets and in centiv iz es graduate and doctorate-level research st udents and lab pr incipal i nves ti g ators. Th ose w ho a ctively participate in a nd follow lab sustainability actions and guidelines earn points to re ceive additional researc h m oney via grant, rebates, a nd at a certain point c an even result in upgrade d lab equipmen t. Like many universities, Stanford oper ates a l arge portion of t h e ir su stainabi lity init iatives from donations, core and revolving sustainability-rela ted pools of funding. On a broad energy and resource ma nagement front, Sta nford is committed to deep decarbon ization, climate r esiliency a nd re d ucing campus waste (of both resources and r educing material waste by recycling, c ompo sting, etc.) by significant degrees ( Stanford, 2024). Stanford has a lso implemente d PPL studies on bui lding occupants, both identifying typical consumption from electronic de vice s and finding an average savings of 21 percent in daily ener gy consu mption wh en usi ng smart plug controlling de v ices (Hafer, 2017; Hafer et al., 2017). Furth er , in 2022, Stanford made t he tr ansition to operating one hundred percent r enewable energy, advanc in g its progress in t he Stanford En ergy Systems Innovat ions initiative, part of the inst itutions ongoing e fforts to f ulfil the goals of previou s years’ climate action plans ( Adami, 2022). The combination of direct and i ndire ct social, behavioral, and motivat ional tactics ma rks the Stanford one of th e highest-r anking U.S . institutions f or comprehensive energy management and sustainability by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessmen t, and Rating System, (STARS ) a program implemented by the Association o f Advancement of Sustainability in High e r Education (AASHE)(STARS, 2022) . Example 2: WSU E nergy and Comfo rt P r ogram The much smaller in sc ale tenant engagement program at Washington State Un i versity (WSU) focuse s on education and ass istive devices (in the f orm of smart power strips) t o help automate the campus’s energy reduction goals wh i le a lso i nvolving the occu pants i n education and involvemen t in critical energy re duct ion goa ls. D e veloped in part fr om examples a t ot her institutions, behavior change research a nd literature, a s ystem wide survey a nd interviews, as well a s specific l ocal le gislativ e changes th at pushed the uni vers it y t o dire ctly a ddress energy usage, the program t ake a directl y personal approach to build ing a community of energy- c onscious building occupants ( Coll igan et al., 2023). To develop t he intervention program, a survey was initially sent to t he university community to gather baseline da ta, while als o conducting in terview s t o help gather more ta rgeted insights on daily activities in buildings, con c erns from occupan ts, and spec ific ideas of how to best engage with t he population (Day & Ruiz, 2020). Fro m this data, oc cupant discomfort was a common ly reported issue within build ings, leading occupants to f in d solutions for t hemselves that often consum e high amounts of energy. One glaring ene rgy issue that emerged f rom these conversations was the use of persona l space heaters brought i n by oc cupants when they perceiv ed their offices to be too cool. Year round, some occupants reported having two or three heating devices r unning at a time to bring their personal space to a t emperature t hat was m o r e suitable for their individualized preference s, especially th ose in older buildings withou t modern climate control systems. This obviously c auses problems related to energy consumption of hea ting and cooling systems in buildings, bu t occupants were often unawar e that actions m ight negat ively i mpact t heir comfort i n t he l ong term, as the bui lding wo r ks ha rder to maintain its setpoint. Many time s, simple c onversations with space heater user s and guidance on best practices is e nough to hel p them realize how the building heating and cooling systems work, bu t overall, the W SU community lacked knowledge on how and why their buildings oper ate t he way t hey do. The Ene rgy and Comfo rt a t WSU program’s approach pr imarily revolves a round the ed ucati on of staff, students a nd faculty, and their use of p l ug load m anagement d e vices to reduce phantom plu g loads and save e n ergy. Install ing smart devices in bui ldings t o re duce power c onsump tion when devices a re not in use helps r educe latent power usage but e ngagin g directly with users further arms building occup ants wit h tools to reduce their energy use while maint aining their comfort and not sacrificing their productivit y. The pr ogra m utilizes st udent staffing and targeted efforts in the highes t COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 18 consuming buildings on the Univer sity’s flagship campus t o build r elationships w i th university departments and occupants in a de eply person al manner (Ruiz et al., 2024). Othe r key efforts include an online employee training c ourse that informs occupants on campus e nergy s y stems , resources for help when uncom f ortable, a nd guidance on conse r ving ener gy w hil e at work. Circumstantially, the program at W SU operates a t a m uch different scale and r each than t hat of Stanford’s whole university s ystem appro ac h. Whil e ther e are significant e fforts happening w i thin the facilities services and maintenance depart ments, WSU has not adopted the same outward commitments to climate ch ange o r d ecarbonizat ion, par tially due to lack of lead e rship prioritization, but additional ly due to ope rationa l costs a nd financial shortfalls. WSU F acility Services has implemented this program i n c onjun ction with infrastructure impr ove m ents and investments in increasing efficiency of existing building stock. The Energy a nd Comfort Progr am a t WSU ther efore fills a s ocial e ngage ment gap in the university’s community – working on the ground with buildin g users t o suppo r t their co mfort a nd e nergy needs while universi ty f acilities wo rk from the t op dow n, improving data availability, upgrading systems, and ultimately retrofitting the campus infrastructure to catch up. Discussion : Educating building occupants about th eir envi ronments while si multaneously covering su stainability topics—such as powe r systems , he ating and cooling m echanisms, thermostat operations, and remo te building cont rols—is c rucial for developing knowledgeable and e ngaged occupants. To encourag e occupants t o adopt su stainable beh a viors, c r eative educ ational an d marketing st rategies a r e often necessary f or optimal a cce ptance. Building personal relationsh ips with occupant s, as demonstra ted in the W SU case stud y, is vital for effect ive e ngage ment. Face-to- face inter act ions foster stronger connections compared t o virtual communications, enhanc ing the l earning experience and behavior change process. In behavior m odification efforts, the person leading the engagement progra m plays a key r ole as both an educat or and a reinforcer of the program’s objectives. By demonst rating c orrect behaviors and expl aining their benefits during personal interac tions, this individ ual helps to solidi fy the desired changes. Form ing a pe rsonal conn e ction d urin g train ing can suppor t ongoing educat ion and resource-seeking. This social approach emphasizes t hat collective efforts towards a common efficiency goal can lead to cumulative b e havior and attitude cha ng es, ultimatel y f ostering long-term social change. Social no rms and occup ant expec tations play a significant role in behavioral modifications w it hin building settings. Often, societal influences on c orporate office behavior and ene rgy practices are not fully recogn ized. Key figures, such as program coordinator s or energy champions, are crucial for establishing person- to-person connections and promoting desired social norms. Evidence from various occupant engagement initiatives shows that individua ls are likely t o a dopt energ y r eduction practices when the y observe their peers doing so. While occ up ants m ay not a lways sacrifice personal comfort to adhere to social no rms (e.g., opting for space hea t ers ove r wearing additiona l l ayers), demons trating and educating them on optimal sp ace usage can effectively initiate engagement effor ts. By showcasing proper practices, these i nfluent ial figures c a n foster a cu lt ure of compli ance and energy e fficiency. In work env ironments, building occupant s are often less motivated to save energ y compared to their home settings, as t hey typically do not bear the cost of ener g y use. This lack of personal responsibility may lead occupants to prioritize comfort ove r energy efficiency, potentially r equiring correctiv e measures. For example, Stanford’s campus-wide incentives program e ncou rages energy-savin g behaviors by offering cash, research funds, a nd re cog nition. Addit ionally, significant i nvestment s in campus utilities, infra struct ure, and waste managemen t result in subst anti al long-term energy savings and r eductions in greenhouse g as emissions a nd a sen se of pride for the c ommunity. This comprehensive approach not only yields immediate benefits but also enhances the long-term resilienc e of the Stanford region. Ultimately, people are t he backbone of c hange, especially when it comes to the social perception s and dangers of our changing climate. Their cooperation and under standing of the COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 19 goals of a n i n itiativ e are imp erative to energy savings ; energy c onse r vation e ff o r ts can only work as well as occupa nt s are know ledgeable and motivated to cooperate. Conclusion Technical energy management s trategies are essent ial for optimizing sustainabi lity and resourc e management, but when combined with occupant engagement programs li ke those at WSU a nd Stanford, t hey c an si gnifica ntly enhance energy behavior modification. This a naly sis of two university programs and related literature highlights the follow ing conclusions: - Education and Social Engagement: Successful occupant engagement progra ms hing e on educating indivi du als about sustain ability, providin g social engage ment opportunities, a nd ensuring broad visibility. When an e ntire community is educated, individuals are more likely to adopt and propagate e nergy-sav ing behaviors. A comprehensive f ramework for oc cupant training s hou ld include r ecurring educational sessions that address seasonal energy conservation str ategies, rather than relying solely on one-time onboarding (Day & Gunderson, 2015). - Active Participa t ion and Incentives : Encouraging oc cupa n ts to actively engage in energy conservation, potentially through i ncentives or rebates, can drive motivation. Wh ile technical strategies like building automation, plug loa d management, and efficient e quip ment upgrades are crucial, e duca t ing occupants about these st rategies is ne cess ary t o preve nt interference with their behaviors. - Behavior Change Models: Bot h WSU and St anford employ behavior change models to develop effective strategi es tailored to their unique contexts. By le veraging commo n motivational an d c apab i lity-based dec i sion-making factors, t hese programs suc cess fully influence occupant behav iors. - Program Focus and Scope: W SU's program e mphasizes red ucing power usage an d incorporates extensiv e educational and social efforts, ta ilored to its campus limitation s and specific build ings. In c ont rast, Stanford’s program, supported by substantial resources and leadership commitment, aims for br oad infrastructur e re silience, r educed utility c osts, and collective communi ty goals for ene rgy savings. In summary, i ntegra t ing occupant engagement with technical strategies is a prom ising appr oach t o advancing climate-critical conservation e fforts. Both WSU and St anford dem onstrate that tailored education and mo tivation can dr ive significant energy savings an d foster long-te rm sustainabi lity. References: Adami, C. ( 2022). 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Ross, L., & Drehob l , A. (2016). Energy e fficiency through te nant engagement: A pilot be havio ral program for m ultifamily buildings. American Counci l for an Ene rgy-Efficient Eco nomy . Ruiz, S., Day, J., Wilson, S., & Colligan, Z. (2024). Get with the Progra m: Methods o f engagi ng occupants for energy-consc ious behavior. ACEEE Summer Study i n Bui ldings, Pa cific Grove , California. SBER. ( 2012). Occupan t engagement for sustainability. In. SBER Summit on s ustainable business IV: Sustainable Business & Enterprise R oundtable. Sintov, N., Dux, E., Tr an, A., Orosz , M., Filho, W. L., & Zint , M. ( 2016). What goes on behind closed doors? How coll ege dormitory residents change to save energy during a comp etition-base d energy r eduction intervention. International Journal of Sustainabili ty in Highe r Education , 451-470. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 21 Stanford. (2023). Sustainability at Stanford: 2022-20 23 year in review . h ttps://sustainabi lity-year-in- review.stanford. edu/2023/ Stanford. (2024). Sustainab le St anford: Climate Action Planning . https://sustainable.stan ford.edu/op erations/climate/plan ning STARS . (2022). Stanford University Platinu m: STARS AA SHE Report, 2022. In S . Lubow (Ed.). Van Sant , A., Ghatpande , O., & T uttl e, R. n. T ., Kim. (2024). Paths For ward: Approaches to Achieve Plug and Proce ss Load Efficiency and Con trol in Commerc ial Buil d ings: Pr eprint 2024 Sum mer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, Pacifi c Grove, CA. htt ps://research- hub.nrel.gov/en /publications/paths-fo rward- approaches -to-achieve-plug-and- process-load- efficie-2 COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 22 How do occupants a da pt t o the heat in t he ir homes: less ons learned from semi-structured inte rviews and in-situ meas ur ements in urb an dwellings 1,2 Hostein, M., 1 *Moujall ed, B., 1 Guernou ti , S . & 1 Musy, M. * Lead presenter : bassam.m [email protected] r 1 Cerema, BPE Research T eam, 38081 L' Isle d'Ab eau, France 2 Univ. Lyon, ENTPE, E c ole Centrale de Lyon, C NRS, LTDS, UMR 5513, 69518 Vaulx-en-Velin, France Abstract Summer has be come a difficult time of year for people l iving in citi es. Heatwaves have increased in intensity and f requency in r ecent ye a rs, an d th e situat ion is no t going to ge t a ny bett er with climate change. In addition, the urban heat island effect increases t emperature s in the city center compare d with the surrounding c ountryside. City residents a re therefore i mplementing beh avioural strategies to cope with the hea t, particularly in the i r homes, wh e re they have more freedo m to adapt. To better understand the occupants' behaviour in their dwellings during summer a nd heatw ave peri ods, semi-structured interviews were conducted with house holds of eight m ulti-family dwellings located in the Lyon metropolitan area, in France, during the sum mer 2023. A field me asure me nt c ampaign was also carried out in their dw ellings, in order t o investigate the relationship be twee n ada ptive behaviour and indoor environ ment. Analysis of the in terviews and t he in situ collected data revealed the actions adopted by occupants to reduce thermal discom fort in their dwellings. A distinction i s made between typical sum mer be havio ur and strateg ies implemented during extreme heatwave periods. The constraints r estricting adaptatio n actions are hig hlighted, wh ether they are persona l, internal to t he dw elling or e xternal ( in pa rticular linked to the urban c ontext). A f ocus on the use o f windows , solar protection and f a ns is provid ed. Keywords Occupant behavi our, Summer, Hea t waves, Adaptatio n, Residential Introduct ion In France, summer has become a difficult time of year for people living in citi es, not onl y in southern Mediterranean areas, bu t also throughout t he rest of the country. Heatwaves hav e increased in intensity and f re q uency in recent years, and the si tuation i s not going to ge t any better with climate c hang e (IPCC, 2023). In addition, t he ur ban he at island e ffect increase s tempera tures i n t he ci ty cent er compared w ith the s urrounding countryside ( Santamou ris, 202 0) . C ity res id ents a r e th erefore implementing behaviou r al strat egies to cope with t he heat, particularly in their hom es ( A llagnat, 2022; Subrémon, 2010). Investig a ting occupant behaviour i s important because the y i mplement vario us strategies to e nsure their comfort during summer, and oc cupant s’ presence a nd actions significantly impact the indoor env ironment. This article focuses on overheating in m ulti-famil y dw elli ngs in urba n envi r onments, where occupant s face numerous const ra ints on their behavioral adaptation. To be tter understand the occ upant s' behavior in their dwell ings during summer and hea t wave periods, semi-struc tured interv iews were conducted with households of eigh t multi-family dwelli ngs located in the Lyon metropol it an ar ea during the summer 2023. This Frenc h city, classified a s Cfb by Köppen-Geige r, has experienced significant heatwaves i n recent ye ars (San té Publique Fran ce, s . d.). A field measurement ca mpaign was also carried out in the dwelling s , in order to investigate the relationship b e tween adaptive behavior and COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 23 indoor environment. First, the methodology used to collect and proc ess the data is presented, followed by a presentation of th e results, f ocusing on the occupants' a daptat ion actions and the associated constraints. Fi nal ly, t he conclusion synthesizes the findi ng s, hi ghlight ing key insights into occupan t behavior and a daptation str ategies, as well as proposi tions for futu re research. Data collection and analysis methodology Selected househo lds In this study, we focus on oc cupants who have pr eviously experienced hi gh temperatures i n their urban apart m ents. We therefore se lected eight house holds in Lyon, who have been r esiding there since at least the s u mmer of 202 2. Thr ee heatwav es occurred in this French region during the sum mer of 2022 ( Santé Publique France, s. d.). Memories of these periods of e xtrem e heat highl ight possible changes i n behav ior when thermal discomfort becomes extreme. We specifically focused on multi- family dwellings. Indeed, this type of dwelli ng is more common in urban environments, and was therefore c hosen as the c ase study. The main characteristics of t he surveyed dwellings are presented in Table 1. In every househol d, there i s at lea st one working member. All dwelling s m ainly use natural cross-ventilation t h rough windows, solar shading devic es, or fa ns t o a chieve t hermal c omfort. In addition, two dw ellings (#2 and #7) occasionally use fixed a ir conditioning in case s of extreme heat. Table 1: Main characte ristics of the surveye d dwellings Dwelling # Area (m²) Nb of rooms Nb. Of occupants Level Equipments Orientation Monitoring period 1 63 T3 1 2 nd (out of 5) 1 fan W & S 05/07 to 13/07 2 65 T2 2 5 th (out of 6) 1 fan & 1 AC S & N 13/07 to 20/07 3 71 T3 2 3 rd (out of 5) 1 fan S & N 20/07 to 27/07 4 56 T3 3 4 th (out of 5) 2 fans S & W 27/07 to 03/08 5 65 T3 2 8 th (out of 8) 1 fan S, W & N 03/08 to 20/08 6 68 T3 2 5 th (out of6) 2 fans & 2 AC S-E & N-E 22/08 to 30/08 7 92 T4 4 4 th (out of 7) 4 ceiling fans S & N 30/08 to 12/09 8 76 T3 3 6 th (out of 7) - S & N 12/09 to 20/09 Interviews methodo logy The se mi-structu red interviews f o c us on how households act in their dwellings during sum mer . At the beginning of eac h interview , the occupants wer e asked to draw a mental map of their home. They could later then show on this ma p t he places where they a re implementing specific a daptation actions, or the sources of restrictions. This methodology is inspired by the work of re se a rchers in the human COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 24 and social sciences, such as All agnat's PhD thesis (2022) or Subrémon's article (2010). The interviews were c onducted with the inhabitants in th eir own dw ellings , so that th ey could show directly the elements to be photograph ed. After draw i ng the me ntal map, the occupants we re asked open-ende d questions on four topics. The questions used to i nt roduce each topic are illustrated in Table 2. Subsequent ques tions depended on the discussion, an d mainly consisted of requests for clarification. The interviews wer e record ed and lasted be tween 23 and 58 minutes. Table 2: Survey fr amework with q uestions related to th e investigated fou r topics Topi c Initial questions Comfort How do you feel in your apartment in summer? Do you find it bearab le ? Do you find your dwelling comfortable in summer ? Adaptative actions What measures are you t aking at home to adapt to the he a t? What do you do in your apartment in summe r to ensure thermal comfort? Constraints Do you feel restricted in your adaptative actions, and if so, by what? What constraints prevent you from adapting to heat, or reduce your ability to do so? Do you sometimes give priority to your the r mal co mfort over other needs? Windows and adjustable solar protections Why do you open your windows? Why do you close windows? Why do you open shutters/blin ds? Why do you close the shutters/blinds? Interview analy si s The eight in terviews were tra nscribed. Men t al maps and photog r aphs are used in this article to illustrate the interviews. These a re visua l aids . Combined with quotations r egarding the re present ed elements, they he lp to synthesize the d iscussions and contextua lise the quotat ions. The interviews wer e conducted in Frenc h, the native language of t he occupan t s. Quotes have been translated for thi s article. Results of the analysis of t he eight semi-stru ctured interviews Adaptation strategies Figure 1 sum marizes a daptative actions implemented by th e household #5, t hanks to the mental map drawn by both occupants of t his dwelling. This Figure reports a rather extensive set of hea t adaptative actions, which can b e grouped into nine categor ies. For a complete picture of the be haviours related to thermal comfort of the occupants of the eight dwellings, air c ondi ti oning use c an be added for t he t w o concerned dwellings. Ta ble 3 summarizes the adaptati ve acti on s impl emented by each household. The first five categories impact t he indoor environ ment, w hile t he ne xt five are personal solu tions that do not affect other occupants. In this article, we propose to focus on the f ollowing four adap tive actions : opening windows a t night, opening wind ows during the day, clo sing shading dev ic es and us ing fans. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 31 lowering them when they are away fr om the dw elling. Out side no is e const itutes a nother constraint, limiting t he open i ng of w indows in seven dwellings. These noises can come from a variety of sources, such as pedestrians or tra ffic, neighbours’ activities or their air conditioning, or more rarely, fire sirens or occasional construction wor k. This restriction is most frequently mentioned for be drooms a t night, since outsid e noise disturbs sleep or wakes people u p e arly i n the m orning if the windows are ope n (households #1, #4, #5, #7 and #8 ) . Sources of outsi d e pollution , s ometimes associated with odours , disturb five homes . In these ca ses, wind ow opening can be restrict ed. Insects can a lso f orce windows to be c losed, e specia lly in the evening or at night. This a pplies particularly to mosquitoes . Dur ing critical periods, household #8 only opens windows in unoccupied rooms. Househo lds #3 and #6 have f ound ways of keep ing their window s open despi te t h e presence of mosquitoes. Household #6 turns t o re pellents. Hou sehold #3 creates a temporary mosquito protection net e very e vening using the indoor c urt ains. Lu minosity r efers t o const r aints that preve nt shutters from b eing opened or c losed. In the first case, it's a ni ght-time problem: occupants can't op en the shutters completely in bedrooms to imp rove air circulation, because they need darkne ss. On the other hand, brightness m ay be required by occupants during the day for t heir activities or plants, a nd ha ve the opposite eff ect on shutters or bli nds. A compromise can also be found by leaving equip ment ajar whenever possible. Four of the e ight household s survey ed are forced t o lower t heir shades to preserve their privacy . This poses a problem whe n occupants want t o aerate e ffective ly, since sol ar protection s reduce t he flow of air through openings when wi nd ows a re open. Fear of i ntrus i on f orces three households (#1, #5 an d #7) to close their window s at times when they wo uld prefer to k e ep them open. Internal constrain ts The a bove constraints come from the e xternal context. Occ upants may also be re stricted by e lements internal to the dwel li ng. Equipmen t no ise is a problem identified by all households. Seven out of eight households are bother e d by fan noise. To improve their acous ti c comfort, oc cupants either set th e fan t o low power or turn it off completely. H ouseholds #4, #6 and #7 have purchased very quiet f an s specifically to solve this problem. The occupant surve yed i n household #2 also mentions the noise of the air conditio ner, which can limit its use. When there are several oc cupants sharing a dw elling, conflicts of use may arise. For all househo lds survey ed wit h more tha n one member (households #2 to #8), there is at le ast one constraint to their a daptation actions linked to t he other occupants. Thes e constraints are often due to diffe rent pre f erences or values: cooking hot m eals, buying an air conditioner, sharing t he f an , e tc. Finally, young childre n and pets can restrict t he adaptative a ctions of households #2, #3 and #8. Windows or inside doors must remain closed at certain time s for safety reasons. Househo l ds #2 and #3, howev er, have added ba rriers to res trict outdoor a c cess for their pets. Personal cons traints Only two of t he eight households are tenants . Ho wever, bo th face restrictions linked to their status that prevent t hem from hav ing wor k done to i mprov e their summer comfort (fixed solar protection and air-conditioning). For all the hou s eholds not equipped wit h an air conditioner, at le ast one member does not wish to have one i nstalled, a s this would confl i ct with their values . For th e t wo household s already equipped with air conditioning, th e occupants try to u se it as little as possibl e to remain in line with their values. Conclusions Using data collected f rom occupied dwellings, t his study provides an insight in to occ upan ts' summer behaviour. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with households in Lyon, to better understand how occupants ada pt to the heat in their dw e llings. These interviews helpe d identify how occupants adap t to the heat and the const r aints they fac e, particularly in an urban context. Results show that the occupants i nterviewed are active in their hom es and implement several heat adaptation st rategies to re duce t heir s u mmer thermal di scomfo rt. They open windows when they perceive that the outside temperature is sufficiently low , particu larly at night, they close adjustable COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 32 solar pr otection, they limit t heir use of he at-gene ra ting a ppliances, they use the air -conditioning o r fans, t hey adjust their clothing, the y humidify themselves, and they le ave or c o nfine themselves t o the dwelling. Several types of c onstraints were also identified through t he interviews: they may originate from outside (weather conditions, noise, pollution, insects, light, vi s-à-v is or insecurity), be internal to the dwelling (equ ipment noise or o ther occupan ts) or personal (tenant status or p references). The eight households surveyed r epor ted si milar behavi or . They all have strong environmenta l values, which lead them in particular to limit their use of a ir conditioning. It wou ld be interesting to carry out semi-structured interv ie w s with a larger number of households, to obtain different profiles. Anoth er limitation of t he proposed a pproach r elates t o declarative bias . Indeed, the c oncl usions ar e based on occupants' self- declaration, w hich may deform reality. These r esults provide a basis f or developing a mod el of occupan t behaviour. The a nalysis of t he interviews will be used to create a set of rules of conduct adapted to the context o f indoor overheating. The next step of this wo rk is to implement these rules in building energy si mulation tools using agent- based modeling, wh ich allows f or accounting fo r the complexity of occupan ts' overall behavio r and modeling their adapt ive actions d uring sum mer in a more r ealistic way.. Acknowledge me n ts Data was collected as part of the CREATIV project funded by ADEME under a greement numbe r 2062C0002. Data analysis was carried out as part of a PhD f unded by the Fre nch Ministry of Ecological Transition. References Allagnat, M. ( 2022). H a biter l a périphérie urbaine en périodes de f ortes chaleurs : Les vécus habitants , leurs di lemmes et l e s inégalités so cio-spatiales amplifiées [These d e doct or at, Nantes Université]. https ://www.theses.fr/2022NAN U2030 IPCC . (2023). Climate Change 2023 : Synth esis Report. Contribu t ion of W orking Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assess m ent Report of the Intergovernmen tal Panel on Climate Change (Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J . Romero, p. 35‑115). Cambridge University Press . https://doi.org/10.593 27/IP CC/AR6-978929169164 7 Santamouris, M. ( 2020). Recent progress on urban overheating and heat island research. Integrated assessment of the e nergy, environmental, vulnerability a nd he alth impact. Synergies with the global climate change. Energy an d B uildings, 207, 109482. https://doi.org/10.101 6/j.enbuild.2019. 109482 Santé Publ ique France. ( s. d.). Fortes c haleu rs, ca nic ul e. Consulté 30 se pte m bre 2023, à l’adresse https://www.santepubl iquefrance.f r/determinants-de- s ante/climat/fortes-cha leurs-canicule Subrémon, H. (2010). Le climat du chez-soi. Une fabrication saiso nn i ère. Eth n ol ogie française, 40(4), 707. https://doi.o rg/10.3917/ethn.104 .0707 COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 33 Effect on ind oor thermal comfort of retrofitting s ocial housing roof s in the Mediterranean climate u si ng a highly em issive radiativ e cool coating 1 *Domínguez-Torre s, C.A. *lead presenter 1 [email protected] , U niversity of Seville, Spain Abstract Social housing buil t in the mi ddle of the last century in sout hern Spain is known to suffer f rom poor thermal insu lation conditions that of ten l ead to indoor thermal discomfort and energy pover t y. Th is situation encourages th e introduction of improvemen t s t hroug h the r etrofittin g of th e envelope t o improve the level s of indoo r thermal comfort and the assoc iated energy consu mpt ion. In t his l ine, and taking into ac count the effects o f climate change, among w hi ch a n incre ase in temperatures is e xpected, the use of radiative cooling techniques can play a n important role in improving indoor thermal comfort conditions, which can be ev en m ore significa nt i n the case of the aforementioned so cial hous ing. This paper a nalyzes the effect on indoor thermal comfort of retrofitting social hous i ng r oofs by applying a cool coating consisting of a r ecently developed ultra-emissive paint with high t herm al emissivity levels and low solar a bsorp t ion value. The a nalysis is c arr ied out considering as a cas e study a dwelling belong ing to the social bu i lding park built in the city o f Sevilla, southern Spain, in th e middle of the twentieth cent ury. I ndoor thermal comfort i s e valuated using the ada ptive therma l comfort methodo logy from the A NSI/ASHRAE Sta ndard 55- 2020. The research considered two natural ventilation r ates of 0.5 and 1.5 ACH. Results have shown tha t for the climate under which the s tudy was conducted, the use of ultra -emi ssive pa int is able to substantially reduce the hours of indoo r t h ermal discomfort over a ty pical clim atic year, providin g 20.53% and 15.68 % more hours of comfort, respectively, for the ventilation ra tes of 0.5 and 1.5 ACH. Keywords Passive cooling, rad iative cooling, co ol roofs, adapt ive thermal com fort, numerical simu lation. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 34 Introduct ion Ensuring indoor t hermal comfort condition s i s one of the ma in objectives in buil ding operation. However, guaranteeing these comfort conditions implies a high im pac t on energy c onsumption due to the use of a ir conditio ning systems (HVAC), c onsum ption that in the case of Europe is close t o 40%, EPBD (2010). T his poses two m ajor problem s: on the one hand , the negativ e impact on c limate change due to the emission of greenhouse gases and, on th e other hand, the exclusion of a lar g e part o f the population from the possibility of achieving thermal comfort due to e nergy prices, which transl ates into situations of en ergy po verty, discomfor t in housin g, and increased unhea l thy situation s. During the l ast decades, extensiv e rese arch efforts have been ma de to i mprov e energy efficiency while maintaining the thermal comfort level of users. Much of this research has focused on the developm ent of measures to improve the energy efficiency of buil di ngs by improving the thermal pr operties of t he building envel ope. In turn, a nother research li ne ha s f ocused on designing t he mode of operation of HVAC systems by linking the use of these systems, and indoor comfor t temperatures, to outdoor temperature evolution, resu l ting in adaptive thermal comfort models f o r buildings that combine natura l ventilation with the use of mechani cal air conditioning systems. In t his context, the combination of both methodologie s, envelope energy im provemen t a nd application of adaptive c omfort m odels, can provide good results to pr ovid e acceptab le thermal c omfor t conditions with a decrea se in e nergy consumption. This is especially important for t he social housing park built in the south of Spain i n the middle of the last century, befor e the e nactment of the f irs t Spanish re gula tions on the e nergy dem and of buildings. This park is c haracterized by deficie n t and obsolete thermal i nsulation conditions in the envelope, which leads to an i ncrea se i n energ y consumption to obtain indoor thermal comfort condi tions that, due to the usually low income of its inhabitants, us ually results in sce n arios of thermal discomfo rt, unhealthiness, and ultimately energy poverty. In the current wor k, these two lines ha ve been implemented f o r t he case of a dwelling belongi ng t o the aforementioned social housing stock: first, the roof of the analyzed buil ding is retrofitted by using a recently developed ul tra-emissive coolin g coating, and t hen the impact of this r oof retrofit on the improvement of indoor thermal c omfort conditions is eva luated t hrough t he ASHRAE -55 adaptive thermal method (AS HRAE-5 5, 2020) . Objetive The main objecti ve of this work is to assess t he imp act on t he in door thermal comfort behavior of a social dwelling of retrofitting th e r oo f using a ne wly released ultra-emiss i ve paint i n combina tion with the ASHRAE-55 adap ti ve thermal m ethod to assess the level s of indoor c omfort. Methods Adaptive therma l comfort models The underlying idea in adaptive ther mal comfort mod els is the varia tion of the upper a nd lower limits of thermal comfor t as a f unction of fluctuations in t he average outdoo r tem perature, an a verag e that is computed in different ways d epending on t he specific comfort model. One of t he most widely used adaptive m odels is the one de veloped in the international standard ASHRAE -55 (ASHRAE-55, 2020). This standard specifies t wo l evels of acceptability with respect to which different l imits of thermal comfo rt are associate d, a s shown in Equations (1 ) , (2), (3) a nd (4): Upper limit (80% acc eptability) = 0.31 ∙ 𝑇  (  )             + 21.3 [ o C] (1) Lower limit (80% a cceptability ) = 0.31 ∙ 𝑇  (  )             + 14.3 [ o C] ( 2) Upper limit (90% acc eptability) = 0.31 ∙ 𝑇  (  )             + 20.3 [ o C] (3) COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 35 Lower limit (90% a cceptability ) = 0.31 ∙ 𝑇  (  )             + 15.3 [ o C] (4) where 𝑇  (  )             is the p r evailing me a n outdoor air tem perature that is computed for ev ery day 𝑑 a s 𝑇  (  )             (𝑑 ) = ( 1 − 𝛼 ) ∙ ∑ (𝛼      ∙ 𝑇  ( 𝑑 − 𝚤 )               ) [ o C] (5 ) being 𝛼 a value be tween 0.6 and 0.9 a ccording to t he latitude. 𝑇  ( 𝑑 − 1 )                re pre sents the m ean daily outdoor t emperat ure f or t he previous da y to 𝑑 , 𝑇  ( 𝑑 − 2 )                i s th e mea n daily outdoor temperature f or the day before t hat, a nd so on. Then, if t he indoor operative temperature is between th e lowe r and upper limits, th is temperature is considered t o satisfy t he indoor comfort condi tion, otherwise it doe s not. It should be noted that the ASHRAE -55 st andard is only appl icable if 𝑇  (  )             i s between 10 and 33.5 o C. Furthermore, originally this standard was only of a pplica tion for buildings with natural ventilation, without use of a ctive conditioning systems, bu t re cent research (Parkinson e t al ., 2020), (Citadini et al, 2021), (Bienvenido-H uertas et al, 20 24), supports also the use of this standa rd for Mixed-Mode bu ildings, i.e. buildings in which natural ventilation is used onl y when the outdoor temperature is ac ceptabl e and, if not, m e chanical air c onditioning systems a re used. Here, for the evaluation of indoor ther mal comfort, the described adap tive model ASHR AE-55 is used. The number of da ys 𝑛 is taken equal to 15, and 𝛼 is considered equal to 0.7, which a re values inside the ranges for these variables as set f orth in ASHRAE-55. As recommended in this standard, the limit s for the 80% acc eptability are used in th is work. Radiative cooling m ethodology for building roofs Radiative cooling f or building roofs is based on th e joint use of two comp le mentary s trategies: the dissipation of t hermal energy by long-wav e radiation from the outer surface of the r oof to the atmosphere and the external universe and, additio nally, the minimization of s o lar radiation absorption. This double effect can be achieved by app lyi ng cold coatings with high t hermal emittance levels and low so lar a bsorptivity le vels on the ro of (ECRC, 2016). In this re search, the use of t he propos e d ultraemissive paint i s based on its radiative cooling properties. This recently developed paint ( Das, 2023) exhibits excellen t pr operti es to keep t he r oof cool. According to the mentioned work, its thermal emissivity is equal to 98.5% while its reflectivity fo r solar r adiation is equal to 96.3%. This, t ogether with its low cost, durability, and scalability proper ties, makes it a good opt ion for retrofi tting roofs in hot clim ate s. On the other hand, the possible aging of t he paint is considered in the computations. For this purpose, taking into account the data provided by previous literature, the a ging pattern considered is: a l oss of solar reflectance of 20% in t he first year, 8.7 % in the se cond year, and 0.9% in t he t hird year, stabilizing after the fourth y ear (Zeilink, 2008). Case study. The case study considered he re i s a dwe lling belonging to a social housing development named E l Plantinar situated in the city of Seville, southern Spain. This developmen t was built i n the city of Seville in the 1960s, l ike many other social developments in the city, t o meet the housing needs of a large population, who at that time c ame to the c ity mainly from rural areas. These dwellings are characterized by a poor and obsolescent th ermal envelope, making them very vulnerable to the impac t of the weath er. The roofs of the buildings are flat and of equal height, so no buil ding casts shadows on the ro ofs, Fi gure 3-(a). The dw elling under study is loca ted on t he top floor of the building, so it is directly exposed to heat transmission through the roo f, Figure 3- (b) and has a total area of 68 m 2 . COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 36 Figure 3: (a) Aer ial view of the El Plant inar developm ent. (b) Build ing case study. In Tables 1 and 2, th e constructive layout s of the w alls and the roof are shown , re spective ly. Table 1. Construc tive layout of the walls. Layer Description Thicknes s ( 𝑚 ) Density ( 𝑘𝑔 𝑚  ⁄ ) Specific Heat ( 𝐽 𝑘𝑔 𝐾 ⁄ ) Conductivit y ( 𝑊 𝑚 𝐾 ) ⁄ 1(Ext) Cement rende ring 0.015 1300 1000 0.67 2 Perforated brick 0.115 780 1000 0.35 3 Cement rendering 0.010 1300 1000 0.67 4 Air chamber 0.05 1.184 1007 0.0255 5 Hollo w b r ick 0.04 770 1000 0.32 6 (Int) Plastering 0.015 1000 1000 0.57 The dwelling is equipped with two 116 × 108 cm windows and one 116 × 108 cm gla z ed door on the main facade fa cing the sou t heast, and with two 116 × 108 c m windows and a 150 × 108 cm window on the r ear facade facing the northwes t. All windows and the glazed door have 3mm t hick glass and aluminium frames a nd are e quipped w ith PVC slatted bli nds. For the initial roof, a solar radiation absorption coefficient of 0.8 and a therma l emiss ivity of 0.9 were c onsi dered according to the usua l values f or dark bit um inous paints (Fernández Díaz, 2019). The r etrofit considered consisted of the application of the ultra-emissive pa int developed by Das et al . (Das et al., 2023). For th is paint, previously indicated values of sol ar absorpt ivity equal to 96.3% and thermal emissivity equal to 98.5% were considered. Fo ll owing the ci ted work by Das et al., the cool pa int was considered to have a use f ul life of 10 year s. Table 2. Cons t ruct ive roof layout. Layer Description Thickness ( 𝑚 ) Density ( 𝑘𝑔 𝑚  ⁄ ) Specific Heat ( 𝐽 𝑘𝑔 𝐾 ⁄ ) Conductivity ( 𝑊 𝑚 𝐾 ) ⁄ 1(Ext) Bituminous pain t 0.0015 1150 1000 0.23 2 Ceramic Tiles 0.005 2000 800 1.00 3 Mortar 0.01 2000 1000 1.40 4 Protective Layer 0.015 1150 1000 0.23 5 Mortar 0.01 2000 1000 1.40 6 Carbon cinders 0.1 640 657 1.40 7 Concrete vault 0.22 1330 1000 1.32 COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 37 8 (Int) Plastering 0.01 1000 1000 0.32 The values s hown in Table s 1 and 2 have be en obtained from CTE (2023) and Fernández Díaz (2019). Climate framework . According to data from the Spanish St ate Meteorological Agency (AE MET, 201 0), S eville experiences an a verage a nnual temperature of 19.2°C. During July and August, the average high temperatures can r each up to 40°C, w hile in Ja nuary the a v erage low dips t o 5.7°C . Consequently, winters are relatively mild, while summers are nota bly hot and dry, with high levels of sunlight. The maximum daily average value of normal incident solar radiation occurs in July at 8.3 kWh/m², with the l ow e st average of 2.3 kWh/m² recorded in December. Tak ing into account the meteorologi cal values described, th e climate of the region is classi fied as Mediterranean Cs a unde r the Köppen-Geiger climate classification. For thi s study, the Seville we ather file (EPW) was used fr om t he EnergyPlus climate file database. Methodology for the assessmen t of the therma l indoor comfort. To a ssess the indoor thermal comfort, the first step was to determ ine the in door operative tem peratur e of t he dwelling. For this purpose, Energy Plus softw are was used ( Energy Plus, 2023) . The dwelling was modeled as a single zone (Saafi, 2018), while the boundary conditions were the e n ergy balance on the exterior surfaces of t he r oof, the exterior facing wa lls, a nd the floor (Engineer ing Re ference EP, 2015), while th e heat flux with the adjacen t dwell ings was consid er ed ad i abatic. The ca ses considered in the study were the original case, th at is, the dwelling with a bituminous coating on th e e xter ior layer of the roo f, and the retro fitt ed ca se using the describe d ul tra-emissive co ol paint applied to the ex terior la yer o f the roof. Two vent ilation r ates equal to 0.5 and 1.5 air change s per hour (ACH) were considered to analyze the impact of ventilation on indoor c omfort levels.. In winter, spring, and autumn the use of ventilation was c onsidered when the outside temperature was within t he indoor c omfort limits, while in summer night ventilation was cons idered. As for the bli nds, t hey were c onsider ed open in wi nter, sprin g and autumn i n t he dayti me period and closed at n ight, unless ve ntilation was applied, while in su mmer they w e re c on sidered open at nig h t and 80% c losed during the dayti m e per iod. For spa ce reasons, a more complete ran ge of ve ntilation rates will be pr e sented in a late r pa p e r. The second step consis ted of calculating the number of hours within t he comf ort interva ls. For the application of th e adaptive method, the methodology applied was as follows: a) The pre vai ling me an outdoor air temperature is calc ulated for each day d of the typical meteorological year for Seville, using the Energy Plus Weather f ile and Eq uatio n (5) for this calculation. b) The applicability of t he adaptive m ethod i s de termined by applying th e limits sh ow n above. c) If th e adapti ve method is applicable, t hen for each hour it is determined by Equations (1) and (2) whether the i ndoor ope rative temperature is with in the comfort range or not. If not, the constant limits for t he l ower a nd upper comfort levels are considered as the limits to determine if the indoor operative tempe rature is of co mfort or not. d) Finally, the nu m ber of hours of comfort is calcu lated for ev ery day of th e year. Results Figure 3 shows the daily mean pr evailing outdoor air temperature, and the lower and upper applicability limits for the typic yea r considered f rom the Sevilla epw file. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 38 Figure 3: Daily p r evailing mean outdoor ai r temperatu re and in terval of applicabi lity of the Ash r ae-55 adaptive comfort model f or the ent i re typic yea r . As ca n be seen i n the figur e, for most of the year, the prevailing temperature is within t he applicability range of the Ashrae-55 adaptive comfort mo del. Th e percentage of days ou tside of this range is 6.3%. For these days, following the previous litera ture mentioned above, the upper and lower limits for comfort temperatures are calculated using E quations ( 1) and ( 2), but now using the c orresponding applicability bound t emperat ures instead o f the correspondin g mean pre vailing outdoor air temperatures. Ventilation rate of 0.5 A C H. As mentioned above , t wo natural ven tilation rates have been considered to determ ine whether or no t this type of venti lation has repercussions on i ndoor co mfort levels. Fi rst, the resul ts are presented f or a ventilation rate of 0.5 AC H. In Figures 6-(a ), 6-(b), 6-(c ) and 6-(d), the hour ly indoor ope rative temper ature for the w hole year, considering a na tural ventil ation equal to 0.5 AC H, is shown for the reference case and th e retrofit case. In the latter c ase, the operative tempe r ature is sh own for years 1, 2 and 3 to 10 af ter the application of th e ultramissive paint. Th is is done to account for the effect o f the aging of co ld paint on the behavior of the indoor opera tive temperatures. (a) (b ) 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Te m perature [ o C ] Lower applicab ility limit Upper ap plicabi lity limit Prevai ling mean outdoor a ir temper ature 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Temperature [ o C] Referenc e Case (0.5 AC H) Lower Limit Upper Lim it Ref.Ca se 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Temperature [ o C] Retrof itted Cas e: Ye ar 1 (0.5 ACH) Lower Limit Upper Lim it RR: Ye ar 1 COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 39 (c) (d) Figure 6: Operative temperature, a nd lower a nd upper limits of ada ptive th ermal comfort f or 0.5 ACH ventilation: (a) Re ference case ( Ref.Case); (b) Retrofitted r oof (RR), year 1; (c) Retr ofitted roof, year 2; (d) Retro fitted r oof, y e ars 3 to 10. As can be seen in Figure 6- (a), the reference case wit h bit uminous pa int presents a high number of days of discom fort in the warm se ason, wh e reas in the cold se ason it presents a somewhat l ower number of days of discomfort. In summary, the reference c ase achieves c omfort days mainly in the spring and autum n months. On the ot her hand, the retrofitted case, in its first year, achieves c omfor t during almost the e ntire warm season, whereas, in con trast, in the cold seaso n it produces discomfor t in its entiret y, Fi gure 6-(b). Th is is because i n thi s first year, t he sol ar reflectivity of t h e ultra-emissive paint is not ye t af fected by the aging effect, thus maintaining i ts potenti al to r eflect solar intensity at its maximum level in the warm season. Fr om the second year onward, and more noticeably fr om years 3 to 10, the number of days of discomfort i n the warm se a son i ncreases slightly due to t he higher absorption of solar e nergy by the roof a s a result of t he grad ual loss of reflectivity due to the aging e ffe ct on the cool pain t, Figures 6- (b), 6-(c), 6-(d). This effect i s compensated by an in crease in the number of comfort da ys outside th e warm season, precisely due to th e afore mentioned loss of solar re flecti v ity pro duced by the ag ing effect of the cool pa i nt. Figure 7: Ventilat ion rate of 0.5 ACH: y ea rly numb er of hours o f comfort for the reference case (all the years), and f or the retrofitted ca se (for each year o f the useful l ifetime of the ul traemissive paint). Due to t his variability in the effect of the ultraemissive paint on indoor comfo rt, i t is necessary to evaluate the num ber of hou rs of indoor comfort for e ach year of the lifetime paint. Figure 7 shows the number o f comfort hours for the re ference c ase and for the r etrofitted case considering a vent ilation rate of 0.5 ACH. For t he ref erenc e case, t he number of comfort hours is constant for a ll yea rs with a 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Te m perature [ o C] Retrof itted Cas e: Ye ar 2 (0.5 ACH) Lower Limit Upper Lim it RR: Year 2 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Te m perature [ o C] Retrofi tted Case: Yea rs 3 to 10 (0.5 ACH ) Lower Limit Upper Lim it RR: Year s 3-10 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Number of h ours Year Yearly number of hours of comfort (0.5 ACH) Reference Case Retrofitte d case COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 40 value equal to 3176 hours per year. For t he re trofi t ted c ase, as can be seen in the figure, th e number of comfort hours is always higher than 3600, this number be i ng lower in the first year after the application of the ultra-emissive paint and increasing progressively until stabil izing a t a value of 3855 hours after th e third year until the l ast year. Table 3. Venti lati on ra t e of 0.5 AC H: yearly nu mber of hours of c omfort for the reference case and fo r the retrofitted ca se for each year of the useful lifetime of the ul traemissive pain t and for the total lifetime span. Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Ye ars 4 to 10 Total life span Reference case 3176 3176 3176 3176 31760 Retrofitted case 3650 3808 3840 3855 38283 Table 3 shows the number of annual a n d total comfort hours. For the useful life of the ultra-emissiv e paint, the total number of comfort hours for the reference case is 31760, while for the case of t he retrofitted r oof, the total number of hours f or the consi dered 10-year period is 38283, which represents an increase of 20.53 % in the nu mber of comfo rt hours with re spect to the ini tial reference case. Ventilation rat e of 1.5 A CH. This se ction presents the results for a ventilat ion rate of 1.5 ACH. For space reasons, only the number of comfort hours for the reference case and for the retrofit case are shown for e ach ye ar of the lifetime of the ultr a-emiss i ve paint, as well as the total r esul ts for the e ntire lifetime. These re sul ts are shown in Table 4. As ca n be observed in this table, for all years, th e retrof itted case exhibi ts a greater number of horas de comfo rt than t he ref erenc e case. This i ncrea se in the num ber of hours of c omfo rt i s 15.68 % for the t otal useful life span of the ult raemissive paint. Additiona lly, Table 4 show s that the lowest comfort hours for the retrofitted case is obta i ned in t he first year of the cool pa int application, r isin g in successive years un t il stabilizing in the in terval from the fou rth to the fifth yea r. On th e other hand, by comparing t he r esul ts of Table 3 and Ta ble 4, it c an be sta ted that ventilation increases the number of hours of c omfor t . Specifically, this i ncrease for a ventilation rate of 1.5 RH with respect t o t he ventilation rate o f 0.5 RH is 9.26 % f or the r etrofi tted roof, and 13.85 % for the reference roof, highlighting the importance of provid ing adequa t e natu ral venti lation in th e climatic context under study. It should be noted t hat the e ffect on the increas e i n t he num ber of c omfort hour s of the i ncrease in the natural ventilation rate is m ore noticeable in the reference case than in the retrofitted case. This is related to the fact t hat the worse behavior of the r eference case t akes advantag e more strongly o f bringing in cool air from the ou tdoors. Table 4. Ventilation rate of 1.5 ACH: yearly number of hours of com fort for the reference ca se and for the re trofitted c ase for e ac h ye ar of th e useful life span of the ultraemissive paint and f or the total life span. Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Ye ars 4 to 10 Total life span Reference case 3616 3616 3616 3616 36160 Retrofitted case 4015 4142 4203 4210 41830 Conclusions In this wo rk we have analyzed th e impact on i nd oor comfort when using a recently developed type of ultra-emissive paint for th e r enova t ion of the roof of a house representative of the social building s constructed in the so uth of Spain in the middle of the 20th century. The ASHRAE -55 adaptive thermal method was used to e valuat e indoor c omfo rt. Two different natural ventilation ra tes, 0.5 and 1.5 ACH , were cons idered t o e valu ate the effect of natural ventilation on the i mpact of the proposed retrofit on indoor comfort. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 47 20,5 – 25,5°C 24,5 – 28,0°C Air Speed 0,8 m/s - 0,2 m/s Moisture %45 Individual Factors Metabolic Rate 1,5 Clothing Insulation Winter Summer 1.14 0.57 Fanger M e thod Thermal comfort PMV value (esti mated votes) 0.5< PM V < +0.5 Thermal comfort PPD value (percentage of dissatisfaction) P PD<10% When these values were defined in th e software, t he unit values of the loads were c onverted into units required by th e software ( Table 6). Table 6. P r ogram-t ime-location information used for t hermal comfort m aps a nd ener gy a nalysis Program Version Rhino 7 - Grassopph er Ludybug - Honeybee plugin (versi on 1.6.0) Energy Performan ce Analysis Program Version EnergyPlus(Rhino - Grassop pher) , Versiyon 22.2. 0 Environment - Climate information Adana IC TUR SRC - TMYx WMO = 17340 0, Simulation Timestamp 2024 - 03 - 18 01:46:34 Output Report Format HTML The metabolic rate was c alculated based on a time-weighted average calculation. A ti me-weigh ted average calculation was used f or i ndividuals with varying activities. To i llustrate , if the metabolic rate of an in div idual who spends 30 min of e ach hour by "storing/pack aging", 15 m in by "filing, standin g up", and 15 min by "walking" is calculated as 0.50 × 2.1 + 0.25 × 1.4 + 0.25 × 1.7 = 1.8. Accordingly, in the m etabolic rate calculation in a primary school, one class hour was taken as 45 min of "writing" activity and 15 min of "walking" activit y in r ecess. A s a r esult, in thi s s tudy, t he metabolic rate was calculated as 1,5 according to the equation of 0.75×1.0 + 0.25 × 1.7. The clothing insulat ion value was determined according to the AS HRAE standard clothing insulation table as 1.14 for winter and 0.57 fo r summer. The se values were de termined based on t he st andard uniforms worn by the students at ea ch school (Table 7). Table 7. ASHRAE 55 Standard Me t abolic Rate Table COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 48 The analyses in th is study we re performed in September and Ja nuar y when the te mperatures were highest a nd lo west, respectively, according to the climate data of Ad ana province. This is because these months can in crease the the rmal discomfort and energy loa ds of buildings. Thermal c omfort a nd energy performance a nalyses of th e e ducat ional structure e xamin ed a ccor ding to t he Fanger method in January a nd Septem ber in line with the MEBEYA TS guidelines an d ASHRAE 55 st andards wer e evaluated in t erms of  Thermal comfort PMV value (predicted vot e);  Thermal comfort PPD valu e (percentage of dissatisfaction) and  Total ene r gy consumpt i on. The obtained results are p resented below: As a result of the t her m al comfo rt calculations of the educational struct ure examined using the Fanger method, it was f ound that the ASHRA E guidelines, which included individu al factors, were successful in providing t hermal comfo rt for September and Jan uary, and the PPD pe rcent age of dissatisfaction was ca lculated t o be below 10% (Tables 10 and 11). The PMV predicted vote value was found to b e within t he range of 0.5< PMV < + 0.5 in all three buildings with th e ASHRAE gui delines da ta a nd was more successful in providing ther mal comfort. When performanc e analyses were examined, it was obser ved that t he physical factors considered in th e ASHRAE st andar ds varied acco rding to seasons and that temperature values wer e effective . Compar ed with the MEBEYATS Guidelines, the ASHRAE guidelines, which include d individual factors, provided energy savings of approximately 25% for September and 20% for January for t he schoo l (Tables 8 and 9 ). COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 49 Adana Karatas Adal ı Primary School September Analy sis Inputs MEBEYA TS ASHRAE 55 Physic al Factor s Operating temperatu re 20 – 28ºC 24,5 – 28,0 ºC Air Speed 0,8 m/s 0,8 m/s Moisture 45 45 Individu al Factors Metabolic Rate - 1,5 Clothing Insulation - 0.57 PMV Value 0.5< PMV < +0.5 0.70 0.39 PPD Value PPD<%10 15 8 Total Energ y Consumption 154 kWh 111 kWh Table 8. Therma l Comfor t and Ene rgy Perf ormance A nalysis o f Selected Schoo ls in Septemb e r Table 9. January thermal comfort and e nergy perf ormance analys is of selected sch ools 4. Conclusion In conclusio n, the energy used to provide t hermal comfort could be reduced by accurately determining the t hermal comfort. The de t erm ination of accurate thermal comfort conditions in educationa l structures and the correct design of the standards are im portant i n terms of protecting students’ health, increasing their p r oductivi ty, and ensurin g energy co nsumption sa vings . Because of t he find ing s obtained, design standards guidelines were prepared wit hout c onsidering different educ a tion levels, activity l evel s, and seasonal and regional e ffects, w h i c h c o u l d c a u s e problems rega r ding the provision of thermal c omfort. It was also determined tha t although the ASHRAE inte rnation al thermal comfort standards exist, as students at different educational levels exhibit dif ferent metaboli c rates, perfor m differen t activities, and have different adaptation capacities, the thermal comfort of stud ents c annot be fully ensured by t he provisions in the relevant standards. Therefore, st udie s c onduc t ed or to be cond uc ted on educational structures at different e duc ational l evels, such a s primary sc hools, secondary s chools, and un i versities, will be significant gu i des for developing ther mal com fort standar ds. Adana Karatas Adal ı Primary School January Analysis Inpu ts MEBEYA TS ASHRAE 55 Physic al Factor s Operating temperature 20 – 28ºC 20,5 – 25,5°C Air Speed 0,8 m/s 0,2 m/s Moisture 45 45 Individu al Factors Metabolic Rate - 1,5 Clothing Insulation - 1.14 PMV Value 0.5< PMV < +0.5 - 1.29 - 0.25 PPD Value PPD<%10 35 7 Total Energ y Consumption 91 kWh 74 kWh COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 50 To c onclude, consi dering the impo r tance of energy consumption in terms of c ost and e nviron me ntal pollution, improvemen ts to be made i n energy consu mption, especially in educational structures, are irrefutably important for quality a nd healthy educati on not onl y for the presen t but a lso for f uture generations. References ANSI/AS HRA E (2020) ANSI/ASHRA E Sta ndard 55: Thermal environment al c ondit ions for human occupancy. 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Build Environ. 46 (12), 2454-246 1. doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv. 2011.05 .02510.101 6/j.buildenv.20 11.05.025 COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 52 CBECS -US Ener gy Information Adminis tration (2012). Commercial building energy consumption survey. https://www.eia.gov /consumption /commercial/reports /2012/energyus a ge/#:~:text=R esults %20 fr om%2 0th e%20 CBEC S%20 show,i nc l ud es%2 0disti llat e%20 fuel% 20o il %2C%2 0dies el %2C (Date of Access: 19 .05.2024) Wang, X ., Yang, L., Gao, S., Zhao, S., & Zhai, Y. (2021). Therma l c omfort in naturally ventilated university c lassrooms: a seasonal field study in X i'a n, China. Energ y an d Buildings 247 , 111126–111382. Do i : 10.1 016/J.ENBUI LD.2021.111126 Url-1 https:/ /tr.m. w ikipedia.org/w iki/Dosya:Adana_locati on_Karata%C5 % 9F.svg Url-2 https:/ /a dana.k tb.gov.tr/TR-60704/g e nel-bilgiler.html Url-3 (https:// tr.climate-data.org/as ya/tuerkiye/adan a/adana-239/#goog le_vignette) COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 53 External thermal insulation r etrofitting: A sol ution for enhancing building thermal perf or m ance 1 *Nepal Garima & 2 Ri jal H.B. 1 [email protected] m, Tokyo C ity University, Ja pan 2 Tokyo City Univ ersity, Jap an Abstract Worldwide increasing interest in ene rgy efficiency, sustainability, and global carbon emissions has directed us tow a rds the study that helps dec rease the ene rgy c onsumpt io n i n bui ldings. The rma l insulation retrofitting pr ovi des an effect ive solution for e nhancing building thermal performance along with its asso ciate d benefits. This pa per aims to evaluate the fe asib ility of t hermal insulat ion retrofitting across the globe thr ough an in-depth rev i ew of previous studies. For this, a systemic r eview of existing research articles was conducted to analyze a nd extract t he relevant details on th e pe rformance r eview of buildings mostly after external thermal insulation retrofitting ( ETIR). The data were c ollected from different c limatic zones, building types, and insulation m aterials. The results from this r eview ha v e shown a clear connection be tween thermal insulation and si gnifican t improvements in buil d ing thermal performance. The re sults represen t t he a bility of th ermal in sulation to maintain stable indoo r temperature regardless of t he outdoor conditions, d istinguishable improve m ent i n U-values can be seen at about 70% on av erage, and energy c onsu m pti on re du ction was found t o var y fro m 14-78%. These outco mes migh t provide a valuable understanding for the stakeholders and the government relating t o the construction a nd energy sectors to i mplement ETIR as a fea sible solut ion t o address the challenges of climate cha nge a nd global carbon emissions contributing to sustainable build ing practices and energ y efficien cy advancements. Keywords Thermal insulation, En e rgy-saving, Th ermal performa nce, Retrofitting, U- value 1. Introduction Unlike c ons tructing a thermally comfort able building , conver t ing an existing building into a thermally comfortable b uilding is a challenging task. The se thermally i neff icient building s contribute largely to the emiss ion of greenhous e gases about 26% gl oball y wit h the nee d for other sour ces to m aintain comfort le vels [ 1]. An increasing trend in the construction of net zero energy buildings has improved the scenario of energy-efficient bui ldings but t h is doesn’t provide a solution t o the e xisting buildings . Currently, 50% of the invest ment in the building sector is being invested in technologi es s u ch as thermal insulation r etrofit ting whic h a ims to i mprove the energy e fficiency of buildings [2]. The need to m ake buildings energy efficient urges fr om the situation of the ene rgy-poor population a nd their struggles t o live in a th ermally uncom fortable e nvironment. According to Guruswamy [3], about 3 billi on pe ople struggle with energy poverty. Santam ouris & Vasi lakopoulou [4] add that in Europe alone more than 70 million are ener gy- poor . In addition, 30% of the global final ene rgy c onsumpt ion is utilized by buildings alone for their operation wh ich is mostly f or meeting the needs of heating a nd cooling demands of the oc cupants [ 1]. Cha ng et al. [5], 2018 explain tha t e nergy consumption for heating has been steadily incr easing with the develop ment of the build i ng secto r. All these reasons create a n urge fo r the optimization of building energy perform a nce. A building’s thermal comfort lev el and oc cupant s' s atis fa ction with the thermal environ m ent also contribute t o four different sustaina b l e development goals ( SDGs) namely SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being, SDG 7 Affordable and c lean energy, SDG 11 Sustainab le Cities and Co mmunities, and SDG 13 Climate Action. Optimization of energy e fficiency contributes t owards SDGs and shows a positiv e impact in reducing the triggering o f the elements respons ible fo r climate change. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 54 The main source of heat loss in the building e nvelope are e xterna l walls [6]. Among var ious available methods t hat c ould be a dopted for making buildings energy efficient, thermal insulation is one of them. This strategy significantly improves a building’s t hermal performance, leadi ng to energy savings, health benefits, r educed carbon emissions, and aesthetic of t h e building e xterior in the case of external th ermal insulatio n (ETI). E TI configura tion i s common ly preferred in energy-efficien t retrofitting meas ures imp le m ented in a partment blocks and office buildings due to its wide range of advantages in preventi ng moisture condensation, tackling thermal bridges, and thermal m ass utilization [ 1]. The addition of thermal insulation i n buildings helps to improve the thermal transmittance value of building elements. Thermal tr ansmittance i s the rate of transfer of hea t throug h a material which is expressed as U- values [7]. The lower the U-value of a building c ompon ent, th e better th e the rmal performanc e of a buil d i ng and vice ve r sa. Many studies h ave shown an improvement in the U values of the building materials after the retrofitting p rocess. This paper gives a n overvi ew of the reduction of e nergy c onsump tion a nd thermal comfo rt of occupants in buildings as a result of t he use of external thermal insulation alone or w ith the combination of other heati ng/cooling sources. Along with that, it provides an i dea a bout how the use of i nsulation improves t he t hermal t ransmittance value of the e xternal wall and regulates the temperature i nd oors. I t al so focus e s o n comparing the ava i lable i nsulation materials and tries to identify the influencin g factors that affe ct the effective ne ss of thermal i nsulation. 2. Me thod ology A systematic r eview of research articles was conducted . The research articles were selected based on keywords such as thermal insulation, thermal r etrofit ting, energy efficiency, ene r gy-saving, t her mal performance, U-value, and t emperature regulation. Some of the searches included papers for acoustic insulation, and retrofitting for seismic, wh i ch were d iscarded. O ther articles were also selected onl y after the r eview of t he abstract as it c ontained inf or mation r egarding internal i ns ulation, a nd energy- saving data without its quantity, those were e xcluded from this r eview. Scopus data base was utilized for the sea rch of a rticles and a fe w governmental reports were also r eviewed. All the relevant information f rom th ese previou s studies w a s t abulated f or the a nalysis. Th is information has been divided into t hree different c ategories. One contains the details about thermal transmittance value, t he second contains the details about the ene r gy-saving rate in residenti al buildings after the use of thermal insulation and the l ast one i s about t he unifo rm indoor temperatures despite the flu ctuat i ng ou t door temperatures. Tabulated data i ncorpor ates the d etails relating to location, climate zone , methods used for the research, types of insulation materials, material used for t he construction of walls , U-values before and after th e r etrofit, energy-saving percentag e, and i nd oor and outdoor temperatu re s. The improved U-value s in the table a re calculated to analyze the fi ndings of previous s tudies. The information from the tables is depicted in the form of figures t o clarify the positive i mpac ts of the use of thermal i nsulation re trofitting i n buildings. Some of the research articles did not provide accurate values of energy-sav ing. Hence, appro xim ation is don e from the prov ided range f or its represent ation. 3. Resul ts and Discussion 3.1 Overview of literature review Although the results of various literature reviews fall unde r the s ame category, the purposes of using external th ermal insulation va ry among studies. The reasons i nclude comparing t he feasibility of external and i nternal thermal insulation, reducing carbon em issions, and energy demand, analy zing energy demand reduction by integrating heating, ventilation, and air condi ti oni ng ( HVAC ) systems, initially setting th e i nternal t empera ture range, improving ther m al comfo r t for e nergy-p oor populations, achieving U-value standards, and assessing economic a nd ecological benefits. The selected articles were fr om various climatic r egions but m ost of them were f rom temperate z one. The methods t hat have been used for analyzing the above-mentioned e lements were mostl y simulation and a few experi mental data. 3.2 Improve ment in the U-val ues of building elements COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 55 This se ction provides a c omprehen sive study on the improve ment in t hermal transmittance (U-values) values obtained fr om t he previous studies. The details ha ve bee n reviewed to find t her mal insulation’ s effectiveness in reducing the U-values of the bui l ding elements. Data from vari ous climatic regions along with i nsulat ion type and its t hickness, materials use d for insulation, building elements, a nd t h e method adopted to ob tain the r esults we re collected. The details are pre sent ed i n Table 1. The improved U-value perc entage in the table has been c alculated usin g the U-va lues of pre- and post- retrofit. Table 1: Thermal transm ittance value be fore and af te r re trofitting EPS: Expanded Polystyrene, BISF: Brit ish Iron a nd Steel Federation, PUF: Poly urethane Foam, VIP: Vacuum In sulation Panel, R1: 1991 reference buildin g, R2: 2009 refe rence building Figure 1 shows the improvement i n the U-value of the building mate rials after thermal re tro fitting in different climatic regi ons. Figure 1 w as made using the data from Table 1. The average improve ment of U -values is ab out 73% whic h represent s a v a lid r eason f or perfor ming thermal r etrofitting in buildings to enhance it s thermal performance. Figure 1( a) is the r epresentation of improved U-value s of buildings obtained after simulati o n. Thi s s uggests t hat despit e the variation in cl imatic zone s and building t ypes, the improvement in U-value is m ore than 50% with an a verag e improvemen t of around 70%. Figure 1(b) is t he representation of improved U-values of buil ding s obtained after e xperim ents. It shows quite s imilar result s in (a) S.N Author Country C limate Me thod Insulation type Insulation material Wall type U-value pre- retrofit (W/m 2 K) U-value post- retrofit (W/m 2 K) Improved Percentage (%) 1 Kolaitis et al. [8] Greece Mediterranean Simulation E xternal / Internal EPS (80 mm) Bricks and Plaster 1.262 ETI 0.299 ITI 0.303 76.3 76.0 2 Rodrigues et al. [9] UK Temp erate zone Simulation E xternal - BISF Brick Concrete 2.07 2.56 0.56 0.59 0.53 0.18 71.5 79.3 67.8 3 Guo et al. [10] China Humid subtropical Experimental External EPS (38mm) Mineral woo l cement board 2.76 1.29 53.2 4 Yuk et al. [11] Korea temperate zone Simulati on External VIP (15mm) Wood and brick 1.68 0.2 8 8.1 5 Zhu et al. [12] China Middle Temperate, Warm Temperate, Humid Sub t ropical Simulati on External EPS (200 mm) Cement sand render, Concrete Block Urumqi 0.45 Beijing 0.55 Shanghai 0.8 Urumqi 0.22 Beijing 0.18 Shanghai 0.19 51.1 67.2 76.2 6 Kumar & Suman [13] India temperate zone Experimental External Elastospray, PUF EPS Burnt Clay Brick wall 3.026 EP S 0.403 Elastospray 0.290 PUF 0.321 86.6 90.4 89.3 7 Adamczyk et al. [14] Poland Moderate zone - External - Cellular Concrete Blocks R1 0.55 R2 0.3 0.2 0.2 63.6 33.3 8 Rodrigues & Kac el [15] UK Temp erate Oceanic Climate Simulation Inter nal Fibreglass (155 mm) / Polyuretan (115 mm) Timber 0. 38 0.15 60.5 COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 56 (b) Figure 1: Impr oved U-valu e for different climat ic regions based on (a) Simulation and (b ) Expe rimental about 80%. Most of the data is obtained from the temperate r egions. Des pite being in the same climatic region, the improved pe rcentag e of th ermal transmittance value is different. This difference is due to the di fference in the choice of insulation materials and t he bu i lding elements. If the me thod adopted f or analysis i s th e sa me for a building, t he us e of different i nsulatio n materials doesn’t ha ve a greater variation in t he U-values at a lat er stage. We c an see this pheno menon i n Figure 1(b). The choice of different insulation materials in the s ame clim atic r egion ha s a lesser i nf lu ence on the thermal comfort of people but the influence of thick ness i s yet t o be known. This em phasizes th e importance of m aterial selection and retrofitting s trategies that suit sp ecific climates and bui ldin g types. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 63 quality of air and outdoo r c omfort. Peop le ’s health and qual ity of life are significantly impacted by the climate change in th e urban areas. The research on ou t door thermal co mfort and bu ilding energy e fficiency i s well r e search in different countries, and climate [7, 8]. In the se stud ies, the Universal Ther mal Climate Index (UT CI ) was use d to evaluate the out door t her mal comfor t . UTCI has be en used by different re search er in different countries to e valuate the outdoo r t herma l environment. For evaluating outdoor thermal comfort, the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UT CI) is a popular t ool due to its depend ability, durability, and adaptability to different climates and seasons. In an outdoor area, Brode et a l. [9] investigated the impact of clim ate change using UTC I and seve ral heat stress assessment methods. Idzikowska [10], investigat ed the UTCI wit h re lation to mort ality in European cities located i n various temperature zones to pre di ct the comfor t level in outdoor env ironments. On the other ha nd, t here a re lot of st udies done on i ndoor t hermal comfort in Ne pal. Rijal et al. [11] has st ud i ed the the rmal comfort in indoor a nd semi-indoor spaces of Nepales e tra ditional houses . Also, Rijal [12] ha s studied the t herma l adaptation of building and people for energy saving in cold climate of Nepa l. The r es earch on outdoo r thermal comfort and building energy efficiency is we l l research in different countries, a nd climate. But in Nepal, the r esearch on outdoor thermal c o mfort by using UTCI ha s not given much priority a nd the l inkage of bu ilding energy with ur b an microclimate has not got much attention in the past. The r esea rch done i n one country or climate mi ght not be fully applicable to a nother location because of va riation in geography and landscape m orphology. So, thi s research is required. The obj ect ive of this study i s to study the thermal response and pr edict th e comfortable UTCI in t he park. Simi larly, this study shows the effect of urban greenery on building energy from l it era ture revie w. 2. Methodolog y 2.1. Site description The study area is i n t he c ity of Ka thmandu as s hown in t he Figure 1 a nd Fig ure 2. Kathmandu is approximately 1400m above the sea le vel surrounded by the mountains. Kathmandu lies in the temperate climate of Nepa l . The rate of ur banization i n the val ley is increasing day by day. Urba n built-up areas grew sl owly in th e 1960s and 1970s but quickly r ises after 1980s. The urban ization of the valley has threatened the e co-sy stem, increased deforestation , air pollution a nd provide disc omfor t to ur ban resident due to unavailabili ty of ope n spaces. The need of parks in Kathmandu has seems more a pparent i n the face of urban development. Figure 3 shows the average monthly air t empera ture and relative humidity of Kathmandu f or whole year. January has the lowest air temperature of 11.0°C , with a highest of 25.0°C in June. April has the lowest (53%) relative humidity, with a highest (86%) in August. Figure 1: Top v iew of stud y site COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 64 Fi gure 2: Loca t ion of study a rea [13, 14] Figure 3: Monthly mea n air t emp erature a nd r elative humidity of Kathmandu with survey period [15] 2.2. Therma l c omf ort survey The field survey was cond uc ted in th e park for 9 days from 8 th July t o 4 th November 2023. Durin g the f ield survey que st ionnaire survey and physical measurem ent was c ondu cted simultaneousl y (Figure 4). A ir t empe rature, re lative hu midity, wind sp eed and gl obe temperature were measured by using different equipment (Table 1). The instrument was set up a t 1.0m above the ground level by avoiding dire ct solar radiat ion. The data was recorde d after 15 minu t es of the instrument setting to ensure th e stability of the values. The measurem ent was conduc ted i n diffe rent weather condition such as sunny a nd cloudy days. The thermal sensation of the vis ito rs was a sked by 7-point therma l sensation scale varying fr om very cold t o very hot as shown in Table 2. 147 votes were gathered f ro m 49 males and 72 females. The average age ± standar d deviation i s 35±20.5 years old for male and 27±12.4 years old for femal e. 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Monthly mean r elative humidi ty (%) Monthly mean air t emperatur e (ºC ) Month Relativ e h umi dity Air temper ature COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 65 Figure 4: Field surv ey in Ratna-park Table 1: Details of ins t ruments used T able 2: Thermal sensation scale 2.3. Universal ther mal climat e index (UTCI) In th is st udy, t he UTCI we re used for analyzing th e thermal comfort of t he park. The UTCI was determined by using official website (www.utci.org) . To calculate UTCI, a ir temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and me an ra diant temperature are required. The mea n radiant t empera ture was calculated from t he equa tion shown below [16]. T mrt = [ T g + 2 73.15) 4 + 1.10 ×10 8 × v 0. 6 × ( T g - T a ) /ϵ × D 0.4 ] 1/4 - 273.15 (1 ) Where T mr t : Mean ra d iant temperature (º C), T g : Globe temperature (ºC), v : Wind velocity (m/s), T a : Outdoor air tem perature (ºC), ϵ: Emi ssivity of the glo be (0.95), D : Diameter of g lobe (0. 075m ) The UTCI value corres ponds to stress level in 10-p oi nt scale as shown in Table 3. Table 3: Stress class i fication of Universal The r mal Climate Index (UTCI) [17] No. UTCI ( °C ) Grade of physiolog i cal str ess 1 >46 Extreme heat stress Measured va riables Ins trumen ts name Accuracy Air t empe rature, Re l ative humidity (RH) TR-7 6Ui ±0.5°C , ±5%RH Wind speed TSI 9535-Anemometer 3% r eading or ±3 ft/min whichever is grea ter Globe temperature The rmo Recorder TR- 52i ±0.3°C, (-20 to 80°C) Scale Word 1 Very cold 2 Cold 3 Slightly cold 4 Neutral 5 Slightly ho t 6 Hot 7 Very hot COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 66 2 38 to 46 Very strong heat s tress 3 32 to 38 Strong heat stress 4 26 to 32 Moderate heat st ress 5 9 to 26 No thermal stress 6 0 to 9 Slight cold st re ss 7 0 to −13 Moderate cold s tress 8 −13 to −27 Strong co ld stress 9 −27 to −40 Very strong cold s t ress 10 < −40 Extreme cold s tress 2.4. Literature re view A comprehensiv e search for relevant literature was co nducted by using Scopus database as show n in Figure 5. Relevant ke ywo rd w as l isted to fi nd t he required publications. The keywo rds like “urban parks energy saving", “ ur ba n heat island m itigation", “ urban gre e n spac e and building energy consumption", “energy ef fi ciency in building near parks" were i nput ted in database. A total of 24 papers related to building e nergy saving due to urban parks were obtained. Out of these 17 papers were included. To ensure the quality of obt ained paper specific i nclusion and exclu sion criteria wer e applied. F or inclusion of paper a) should prov ide information on e nergy sa ving by urban park s , b) published in journal, r eputable conference p r oceedings. Similarly, those papers were e xcluded a) no t focused on urban pa r ks and energ y consu mption. Figure 5: Literature rev iew process 3. Results 3.1. Outdoor c limatic cond ition The m easured ai r temp erature, glo be temperatu re, r e lative hu midity, a nd w ind velocity durin g voting are s hown i n the T able 4. The observed air tempera ture ranged from 22.0 to 32.0°C, with a mean of 28.0°C. The mean globe t emperatur e is 29.0°C , a nd their range is 23.0 to 33.0°C. The re lativ e COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 67 humidity r anged from 39 to 72% on average . These numbers imply fluctuations i n m oisture content, which may be impacted by the pa rk's vegetation and weather pattern s. T he ave rage wind speed was 0.6 m/s, w ith maximum up to 1 m /s. Table 4: Physica l parameters du ring voting Statistics T a ( °C ) T g ( °C ) RH (%) V ( m/s) Mean 28.0 29.0 57 0.6 S.D. 2.2 2.3 9 0.2 T a : Ai r tem perat u re, T g : Globe temperature, R H : Relative humidity, V : Wind veloci ty, S.D. : Standard deviati on 3.2. Description of the rm al re sponse Subjective perception of visitors i s gathered by using th ermal sensat ion vote. The distribution of thermal sensation vote is shown in the Ta ble 5. Abou t 78% of the respondents vote d for “ 4. Neutral”. Similarly, 14% voted th e thermal environment t o be “5. Sligh tl y hot”. 10% of th e responden ts considered the thermal environment as “3. Slightly cold”. 1% of subjects considered the t her mal environment as “ 2. Cold” and “6. Hot”. The result of t hermal sensation votes i n the park durin g investigated per iod shows most of the park visi tors feel com fortable during t he stay pe rio d. The finding of this st ud y was compared with thos e of previous studies. Zhang et al. [ 18] conducted f ield survey in Chengdu Pa rk in China duri ng summer, and found t hat 60% of the responden t s voted fo r “Neutral” thermal sensation wh ich is consis t ent wi th our stu dy. Table 5: Dis tribution of thermal sensa tion scale Words Frequen cy (%) Cold 1 Slightly cold 7 Neutral 78 Slightly hot 13 Hot 1 3.3. Relationship be tw een TS V and UTCI Taking into consider ation a var ie ty of climatic factors and their effects on human he alth, the UTCI is a comprehensive index t hat analyzes thermal c o mfort. Th e relationship between th e thermal sensation vote and UTCI is shown i n Figure 5. The data was binned in 1ºC of UTCI. The f ollowing equation was f ound from th e weighted linea r regression ana lysis. TSV = 0.07 UTCI + 2.01 (N = 147, R 2 = 0.51, S.E = 0.017, p < 0.001) (2) Where UTCI : Un iversal Thermal Climate Index, R 2 : Coefficient of determination, S.E. ： Standa rd error of regress i on coefficient, p ： S ignificance valu e of regression coeffici ent. When UTCI increases, the thermal sens ation also in crease s. By substituting “4. Neutral” in equation 1, we obtai ned the comfortable UTCI of 28.0°C. Sharifi a nd Boland [19] found the comfortable UTCI of 28.8°C in Au stralian p ublic space by improving the microclim ate such as gr eenery and pond. Hadianpur et al. [20] f oun d t he comfor t able UTC I of 26°C i n Ira nian uni versity ope n spaces du ring summer which was lower than this study. It might be related to abundant shading in the outdoo r environment. Akbari et a l. [21] concluded that the te m perature in the urban ar eas have increased by about 0.5-3ºC, which increases the e lectricity dema nd by 2-4% for 1ºC rise in temperature. They estimated that 5-10% of the current e nergy use in the building will be minimize, if the outdoor spaces are well designed with comfor t because urban res idents will move to public space s during the dayti me. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 68 Figure 6: Relationsh i p between therma l sensation vote and UTCI 4. Energy saving in building by park The i ncorpo rati on of ve getation, parks and trees can help buildings use less e nergy because it c an provide shade, and moder ate local microclimates. Studies conducted i n se veral countries hav e revealed differ ent levels of energy savings which is shown in Table 6. In United States, Sim p son [22] found th at 90% of res idential tree cove rage resulted in energy s a vings o f 157 million kWh. These finding are more important for urban de v elo p ment and sust ainability. Ur ba n are as ca n save a significant amount of e n ergy by including green spaces, which also lowers gre enhouse gas emissions a nd the ne ed for ar tificial cooling. Th i s strategy not only makes buildings more e nergy efficient, but it also makes urban livi ng more c omfortable by generating cooler outdoor areas. Therefore, urban green ery aids in reducing the effects of climate change and advancing s u stainable urban development acro s s the globe. Table 6: Energy saving b y park in previous stu dies 5. Discussion Thermal comfort in the outdoors is indicated by a comfo rtable Uni versa l Ther mal Cl imate Index (UTCI ), whic h obtained 28.0ºC in this st ud y. On 5 th July 2023 Kathmandu m aximum temperature wa s 32.3ºC [27], which makes the use of more cooling energy in the indoor t o keep people comfortable. If the building's surrounding air t empera ture may drop to a m ore acceptable UTCI of 28.0ºC due to the park's cooling impact, the building will ha ve l ess cooling de mand as a direct result of this temperature drop. In t he United States, research done by Simpson [ 22] has demon strated tha t a high tree cover ca n save m aximum amount of e nergy used for cooling the building which would reduce power costs and help with energy conservati on in gener al. In a tropical region like Indonesia, the eff ects of greenery on Reference Co untry Technique Energy saved (kWh) Kong et al. [23] China vegetation 1.3*10 4 Wong et al. [24] S ingapore Park 267 Yu et al. [25] Singapore Park 1046 Simpson [22] Un i te d st ate of America 90% trees 157*10 6 Carver et al. [26] Unite d state of A merica Tree shading 296 COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 69 urban e nvi ronments ha v e been studied [28] a nd t he out door temperature has been lowe red by 1.2°C. By appl ying t h e se findings to Kathmandu, it is possi ble to re duce t he city's temperature if the city's urban planning include s more green areas lik e Ratna-park. As a r esult, less energy w ould be used fo r cooling buildin gs throughout the en tire city. 6. Conclus ions From the fie ld survey and li terature review, the fol lowing resu lts were found. 1. 78% of the vi sitor voted f or Neutral t hermal sensation. This implies t hat m ost of the visitors feel comfortable during t he stay per i od. 2. The comfor t able U TCI of 28.0ºC was found in park. 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H., Jusu f , S.K. , Syafii, N.I., Che n, Y., Hajadi, N ., Sath yana rayan n, H.. Manickavasagam, Y.V. (2011). Eval uation of impact of surrounding urban mor phol ogy on building energy c onsumption. Sol ar Energy , 85, 57-7 1. 25. Yu, C., Hien, W.N. (20 06) . T hermal benefits of ci ty parks. Energy and B uildings , 38, 105-120. 26. Carver, A.D., Unger, D.R., Pa rks, C.L. (2004). M odeling energy sa ving s f rom urban sha de tr ees: An assessment of the city gr een energy conservation m odule. Environmental Managemen t , 34, 650-655. 27. http://mfd.gov.np /city?id=31 (Acces sed on 26 th Augu s t 2023). 28. Widiastuti, R., Bramiana, C .N., Bangun, I.R .H., Prabowo, B.N. , Ra mandhika, M. (2018 ). Vertical greenery system as t he passive desi gn strategy f o r mitigating urban heat island in t ropical area : A comparative field me asure m ent between green facad e a nd gree n wa ll, IOP Conf. Ser. Earth Environment and S cience , 213. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 71 Evaluation of e nerg y efficiency mea surement method and thermal environment in d ata center b ased on literature review * Zaki, G., Rijal, H.B., Aqi lah, N. Tokyo City Uni versity, Graduate School of En vironmental I nformation Studi es, Japan * [email protected] Abstract The incre ase i n da ta center f a cilities h a s led to hi gher energ y con s umption and a l arger c arbon footprint, nece ssitating improvements i n thermal en vi ronments for e nergy e fficiency a nd server lifespan. Existing l iterature often overlooks categorizing equipment for Powe r Usage E ffectiveness (PUE), criticizing power efficiency measurement m ethods, a nd addressing employee thermal comfort. This paper c ategorizes equipment as either 'facility power' or 'IT e quipment power' f or PUE calculations, identifies measurement limitations, and discusses employee c omfort in various data centers. A comprehensive literature r eview from 2010 to 2023 was conducted using datab ases like science direct and Sc opus. Thi s review f ocuses on studies provi ding data on power c onsu mption, environmental conditio ns, PUE, DCiE, a nd employe e comfort. Based on several criteria, 78 papers and 27 websites were reviewed. Results show an average Information Techno logy (IT) power usage o f 48.6% and a PUE of 2.06, in d icating "average" eff iciency. The s t udy highl ights a lac k of standardization in PUE formula e quipment c ategoriza t ion, affecting efficiency rat ings. The a verag e indoor temperature and relative humidity in data center were found to be 16.5°C and 19%, respectively, which a re uncomfor table for employees. These findings encourage further re search to improve energy eff iciency and employee thermal co mf ort. Keywords Data center, Pow er efficiency, Standard, E m ployee, Th er mal comfo rt 1. Introduction The annual growth in demand for network ed services, estimated at 30%, ha s sig nifica ntly increased energy consu mption in data c enters, which now acc oun t for 1-3% of global electricity use (Wilkinson, 2024). This rise in c onsump tion, drive n by high demand a nd e nv ironmental c once r ns, emphasizes th e nee d for closely monitoring power usa ge and finding ways to improve energy efficiency. Cooling syst ems, wh ich prevent overheatin g, c an consume up to 50 % of the energy us ed by IT e quipment, m aking i t esse ntial to opt i mize serv e r performance and reduce unnecessary he a t production ( Dayarathn a , 2015). To addre ss these i ssues, standardized metrics like Power Usa g e Effectiveness (PUE) and Data Center Infrastructure Ef f iciency (DCiE) are key for a ccurately assessing energy performance in data ce n ters (Patterson, 2008). PUE, in particular, provides valuable insights b y comparing total f acility energy with IT equipment energy, yet many studies fa il to clarify which equipment i s ca t egori zed u nder IT or fa cility power. This lack of c larity m akes it difficult to evaluate energy usage acc ura tely (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2023). Impr o vi ng how the se metrics are applied is cr uci al for be tter understanding energy consump tion and driving improvement s in efficiency. Maintaining optimal thermal conditions in data centers is c ritical not only for the longevity and efficiency of the infras truc ture but also f or the wel l-being o f emp loyees. Ef fective t hermal management can significantly re duce the ri sk of e quip ment failures, l ower operational costs, a nd minimize the need for frequent replacements by optimizing c oo l ing systems and maintaining a stable environment. This, in turn, leads to substantial energy savings and improved operational eff ic iency (Moazamigoodarz i, 2019; Lawrence Be rkeley Nation al Labor atory, 2023). However, many studies fail to address the thermal comfor t of e m ployees working within these environments, foc using solely on equipment performance. This paper aims to bridge that gap by cat egorizi ng data on energy COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 72 consumption in data centers, distinguishin g between IT power and facilit y power. Through the calculation of PUE and DCiE, the study evaluates the effectiveness of these metrics in assessing energy efficiency. Additionall y, air t empe rature and relative humidi ty data ar e a nalyzed a nd compared to established standards, hi ghl ighting a reas wher e improve ments may b e necess ary to opt i mize bo th the technical and human aspects of data ce nter operations. 2. Methodology 2.1 Literature rev iew For this study, a comprehensive literature review was conducted utili zing several we ll-k nown academic databases, i ncluding Scopus, IEEE Xplore, Scie nceDi rect, a nd PubMe d, as well as various industry websites a nd r epo r ts. The primary goal was to gather a wide ra nge of st udies foc used on different aspects of data center ope rations , particular ly those concerning energy consumption, cooling efficiency, a nd the working conditions of employees within these environ me nts. Keywo rds such as 'Data Center Cooling,' 'D ata Center Energy Consum ption,' 'Data Center Ene rgy Ef ficiency,' 'Data Center T emperature,' 'Data Cente r Humidity,' and ' Employee C om fort in Data Centers' w ere used to search for relevant s tudies. The i nclusion criteria for th e literature review we r e stringent, foc u sing on ly on studies that provided specific da ta on power consumption, environm ental conditions, equations for P UE and DCiE, a s well as th e impact of data center conditions on employee thermal comfort. St udies wer e excluded if the y lacked re le va nt data or sufficie nt meth odological detail. Initially, a tota l of 128 paper s and 36 websites were identified a s potential sources. After a detailed review and sc reening process, 78 papers and 27 websites were sel ected for full-text review. Th is selection process ensured that onl y high-quality and relev ant studies were included in the final ana lysis. Once the relevant studies were selected, data extraction focused on seve ral key parame ters: power consumption, i ndoor temperature, and relative humi dit y. The power cons umption data wer e categorized ba sed on PU E a nd DCiE e quations, allowing f or a st andar dized c omparison acros s different studies. These metrics were crucial in evaluat ing t h e efficiency of energy us age within data centers. Additionally, the extrac t ed data were analysed to understand t he variabili ty i n environmental conditions, such as temperature and humidity, whi ch dire ctly affect both the effi ciency of the data center operations and the the rmal c omfort of the employees working within th ese fa cili ti es. This meticulous approa ch ensur ed that th e review provided a c omprehen sive understanding of the curren t state of data center ef ficiency and employee thermal comfort condit ions. 2.2 Power eff iciency parameters in da t a center Establishing parameters for data center is imp ortant to me asure the efficiency of the power usage that a re being used to run the data center. To calculate the energy efficiency of data centers, two parameters ca n be used: Power Usage Effectiven ess (PUE) a nd Da ta Center Infr astructure Ef ficien cy (DCiE). T he power usage of the de vices that a re bei ng use d in data centers a re simplified into two categories so that it c an be used in the PUE equation (e quation 1). T he first category is Info rmatio n Technology ( IT) e quip ment power which includes computing de vice, storage device, network device, supplemental equipment, monitors, and workstat ions. The se cond category is f acility pow er, encompassing that support the IT equipment load. This i ncludes power delive ry components (such as Uninterruptible Power Su pply (UPS), swit ch ge ar, generators, Power Distribution Unit (PDU), batteries, and distribution losses outside the IT equipment), c ooling system components (like ch illers, Computer Room A ir Co ndi tioning units (CRACs), pumps, and cooling to wers), and other miscellaneous component loads (such a s li gh ting) (Belady, 2008). The total f acility power will be the facility power added to t he IT equipment power. After categorizing the data, the data can be in ser ted into the equation to m easure the PUE and D CiE: 𝑃𝑈𝐸  =           (1) COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 79 Nasution, T., Muc htar, M. A., Seniman, S., & S iregar, I . ( 2019). Monit oring temp erature and humid i ty of server room using Lattep a nda and ThingSpeak. Journal o f Physics: Con ference Series, 1235 , 012068. h t tps://doi.org /10.1088/1742- 6596/1235/1/0 12068 . Holiday Weather. (n.d. ) . M edan Weather in Febru ary, Indonesia. Retrieved fr om https://www.ho l iday- weather.com/medan/av erag es/february (Accessed a t 1 August 2024). Arifin, J., Herryawan , P., & Gultom, B. (2019 ). Deteksi suhu ruan g se rver da n penggerak kipas berbasis Arduino Uno dengan re port SMS. Electr ician, 12 (2), 2079. https://doi.org/10.239 60/elc.v12n2.207 9 . Weather and C l imate. (n.d.). P urwokerto We ather in February. Retrieve d from https://www.weather- and-climate.com/aver age-mon thly-Rainfall-Temp erature-Sunshine- fahrenheit,purwoker t o,Indo nesia (Accessed at 1 Aug ust 2024). Peng, W. Z., Ning, S ., Li, S., Sun, F., Yang , K. C., Wes t erdahl, D., & Lou i e, P. K. K. (2018). Impact analysis of tempera ture and humidity co nditions on ele c trochemica l sensor response in ambient air quality m onitoring. Sensors, 18 ( 2), 59. h ttps://doi.org/10.3390 / s18020059 . Shehabi, A., Tschud i , W., & Gadgil, A. ( 2007). Data center econom izer contamination and hu midity study. Lawrence Be rk eley N ational Labora tory . Retrieved from https://escholarship.o rg/uc/item/8 fm831xf (Access ed at 26 Augus t 2024). National Centers fo r Environmental In formation (NCEI ) . "C limate Data Online (C DO)." National Oceanic and A tmospheric Admini stration (NOAA) . R etrieved from https://www.ncei.no aa.gov/access/pas t-weather/oakland (A ccessed at 2 Au gust 2024). Diogo GCS, et al . (2022). Influ e nce of cooling architecture on dat a center power consumption. Energy, 183 , 525-5 35. https://doi.org/10.1016 / j.energy.2019.06.1 40 . Ismail, A. R., Jusoh, N., I brahim, M. H. M., P anior, K. N., Zi n, M. Z. M., Hu ssain, M. A. , & Makhtar, N. K. (2010). T hermal Comfort A ssessment in Comp ut er Lab: A Case S tudy at Ungku O mar Polytechnic Ma laysia. Proceedings o f the National Co nference in Mechan i cal Engineering Research and Pos tgraduat e Students (NCMER ) , 26-27 May 2010, 408-416. Telejko, M. (2017) . At temp t to improve indoo r air quality in co mputer laboratories . Procedia Engineering, 172 , 1154-11 60. https://doi.org / 10. 1016/j.proeng.2017.02.1 34 . Abanto, J., Barre ro, D., Reggio, M., & Ozell, B. (2004). Airflow modelli ng i n a computer room. Building and Enviro nment, 39 (11), 1393-140 2. https://doi.org/10.101 6/j.bu ildenv.2004.03.01 1 . COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 80 Socio-Demograph ic Insights into U r ban Building Ener gy con sumption 1 *Shamsaiee, M., 1 Eicker , U. *lead presenter 1 Masood.Shamsai [email protected] rdia.ca, Conco rdia University, C anada Abstract This study e xam ines th e influence of socio-demographic factors on re sident ial energy c onsu mption across different Forward Sortation Areas ( FSAs) in Montre al and Quebec City. Residential buildings are critical in the global effort to r educe greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for approximately 40 % of energy use and 30% of emissions. While technological a dvance ments suc h as ene rgy-efficient appliances and im prov e d building materials ha ve been pr omoted, occupant behavior remain s a major factor influenc ing e nergy consumption pa tterns. By e mploying a data-driven approach, this researc h integrates hourly energy c onsumption data f rom Hydro-Quebec with socio-demographic information from Cana d ian Census data. The analysis is c onduc t ed in three phases : f irst, feature engineering and ANOVA a re used to identify sign ificant socio-demograph i c predictors of e nergy use; second, daily energy consumpt ion profiles are clust ered using K- Sha pe clustering t o explo re distinct consumpt ion behaviors; a nd thi rd, a n XGBoost classification model is develop ed to predict cluster m embershi p based on socio-demographic features. SHAP analysis is a ppli ed t o interpret the relative importance o f these features i n the model’s predictions. Results show t hat factors such a s i ncome, e mployment rate, and household size signific antly affect consumption patterns, with no t able differences between the two cities. The findings provide insights for policymakers and uti lity companies t o design tailored e nerg y efficiency programs that a ccount f or the diversity in energy consumption behavi or a cross urban a reas, contributing to more ef f ective demand-s i de management and ene r gy-saving initiatives. Keywords Residential energy consumption, Occ upant behavior, Socio-demographic f actors, K-shape clustering, SHAP analysis Introduct ion The built e nviron ment has a big role in t he effort to reduce global energy consum ption a nd greenhous e gas emissions, as buildings acc ount fo r approximately 40% of energ y use and c ontribute to 30% o f greenhouse gas (GHG) e missions globally ( 2019 Global Sta t us Report for Buildings and Construc t ion , n.d.). At the ur ban le vel, ac hieving ener gy optimization and meeting sustainab ilit y goals are well promoted, for example through t he United Nat ions' Sust ainable Deve lopment Goal 11 : Sustainable Cities a nd Comm uni ties, a nd Canada's aiming for a 37.5% re duction in GHG emi ssions by 2030 compared to 1990 le vels, and commitment to a chievi ng net-zero emissions by 2050 (Da biri an et al., 2022). Ho wever, th e effectiveness o f technolo gical advance ments such as improved bu ilding envelopes, energy-efficient a ppliances, and the int egration of re newable e nergy sources (RES), which stride t oward s Net Zero-Energy Buildings, (NZEB ) can be significantly compromised by overlookin g the role of occupant behavior (OB), which is a c ritical factor influencing energy consu mption pat terns. For example, studies have shown a 160% variation in energy use a cros s 12 physically identical high- performance buil dings, pri ma rily due t o differe nces in how occupant s interact with their ene r gy systems (Dong et al., 2022). This means that the global e ndeavors towards decar bonization of urban built are a requires a more holisti c understanding of how oc cupants int eract with buildings. Occ upan t behavior is especially relevant in programs such as smart metering, demand response i nitiatives, a n d building retrofitting projec ts, all of which de pend he avily on accurate i nsights i nto how individual s and households u se energy in real-world scena rios (Osman et al., 2024). COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 81 In terms of resident ial buildings energy consu mption, a ke y determinant is th e socio-demogra phic profile of the o ccupants. Studies have demonstrated that socio-d emographic parameters such as age , sex, education, household comp o sition, a nd i ncom e s ignificantly influence e nergy use patterns (Osman et al., 2024) . For i nstan ce , a stu dy by Wang et al. identified ho usehold compo sit ion, retirement sta tus, and th e age of the respondent as key f actors explaining up to 70% of the variation in electricity c onsump tion, based on sm art meter data (W ang et a l., 2019). Similarly, research conduc ted in Athens re vealed that gender, age, education l evel, and income are critical factors affecting energy- related behaviors (Vog iatzi et al., 2018). These findings s uggest that t ailored energy e fficiency programs—such a s educational initiatives f or younger gener at ions or t argeted e co nomic ince n tives f or low-income households—can be high ly e ffective i n reducing e nergy consumption. W allis et al . also highlighted the i nfluence of hous ehold composition, showing that t he presence of a doles cents indirectly incr ease s energy consumption throu gh th e owner ship and u se of information technology appliances (Wal lis et al., 2016). This pa per aims to set the first st ep in addressing the current shortcomings in th e repres entation of occupant behavi or in energy models in urban context by evaluating the relatio nship betwe en socio- demographic parameters a nd residential energy consumption across different regions. By employing a data-driven approach that in tegrates energy consumption data with socio-demo graphic information , this study seeks to a chieve the follow ing objectives: 1. Characterize the relationship between socio-demograp hic parameters and energy consumption patterns. 2. Evaluate the in fluence of socio-de mographic diversity on peak energy consum pti on behavior, identifying patterns that v a ry across diffe r ent regions. 3. Apply statistical and machine learning techniques to develop a f ramew ork that c an pre dict peak energy consumption based on soci o-demograph ic data, contributing to more accurate UBEM simulations. This r esearch offers several key contributions. The knowledge ga ined from analyzing urban ene rgy consumption patterns, particul arly when li nked to socio- demographic f actors, can benef it a w ide range of stakeholders. For government policymakers, t his da ta can improve the assessmen t of e nerg y efficiency initiat ives before im ple m entation, ensur i ng t hat t hey account for the be havior of different population segments. Utility companies ca n use this information to enhance urb an energy planni ng, better aligning elect rification pr ograms wit h the diverse needs of diff erent end-user groups. By incorporating e nergy- poor popul at ions i n to policy-making, governments c an al so promo te equity and ensure that energy- saving measures a r e accessible and eff ective for vulnerab le communities. In pa rticular, understanding these patterns is essential for imp roving the accuracy of Urban Buildin g Energy Models ( UBEM), w hic h have often r elied on simplified buildin g archetypes that fail to capture the complexity of r eal-wor l d occupant behavior. By m oving beyond static building archety pes a nd incorporating dynamic occupant beha vio r, UBEM wo r kflows can mor e e ffective l y predict b oth total and peak energy demand, re sul ting in better deman d r espons e strategies, retrofitting projects, a nd energy-saving po l icies tailored to specific demograph i c groups. Case Study, data and Met hodology C a s e s t u d y a n d D a t a The province of Quebec in Canada is home to around 9 mil l ion peop le, with Montreal and Quebe c City as its most populous cities with a pp roximately 1.8 m illion and 0.6 million people respectively (Government of C ana da, 2021). Within the m ain urban ar eas, as much as 90% of the province’s energy generation is hydropower, which makes it very environmentally friendly. Almost all of Quebec’s electricity is supplied and managed by Hyd ro-Quebec (HQ), which is a government owned public ut ility company. T he electricity d ata for thi s study was avai lable thro ugh t he partn ership between Next-Gene ration C ities Institute (NGCI) at Concordia University a nd Hydro-Quebec (HQ ). The data consi sts o f hourly ener gy consump t ion pe r Forward Sortation A rea (FSA), which is a geographic r egion defined by the first three c haracters of a C anadian postal code re present ing a specific area, which c an vary in si ze depending on population density and geographic features. That is COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 82 to say the data on electricity covers the a ggreg a ted c o nsumption for the residential secto r per FSA. In light of t his, the socio-demograph i c parameters, which are sourced from Ca nadian Census, ar e also extracted on FSA r esolut ion. The census data covers several ca tegories of determinants, but only those relevant to the task in hand have be en selected ba se d on the re view of the relevant literature. These categories in clud e Popu lation, age and sex , dwe lling and household size, E ducation, Ethnicity an d immigration, Income, Labor and Commute parameters. The scope of this s tudy i s s et on t he t wo abovementioned cities, i.e., Montreal and Quebec City, and cover s the winter season of 2021-2022, i.e., from November 2021 to and including April 20 22. Figure 1 shows the map of the t wo cities, outlining different F SAs. The co lor signifies the popu lation of the FSAs. Figure 6: Ma p of Montrea l (top) a nd Quebec City (bot tom) along with t heir FSAs and res pectiv e populations M e t h o d o l o g y A data -driven methodolog y ha s been developed to a chieve the obj ectives set in pr eviou s se ct ion, combining energy-related data w it h socio-de mo gr aphic pa rameters. Figure 2 demons trates the COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 83 workflow dev eloped in t his study, which is su mmarized as foll ows. First, the data undergoes a preprocess ing step where cleaning, normalization and outlier hand li ng is perfo rmed. The next steps ar e divided into t hree phases. The fir st one is pe r form e d in o rder to dete rm i ne the important socio- demographic parameters that are shown to affect energy c on sumption. To that end, the data on e nergy consumption is aggregated monthly, and combined with the full set of available socio-demograph ic parameters. Feature engi neering, selection and extraction is then performed to decrea se the dimensionality of th e available data and prepare i t for hypothesis testing, which happens next. Hypothesis te sti ng is per f ormed to determine which parameters a re to be kept and whic h ones a re not contributing in the consu mption behav ior of the residential sector. This le ads to a se t of socio- demographic parameters, whic h are later used to d evelop the machine l earnin g classification model. The second phase is devised to address the consumption behavior diver sity between FS As. First step is to extract t he daily c onsum pti on profiles of different FSAs, a nd later a clusterin g t ask i s performed on them to determ ine if there are significant similarities and differences between the daily consumptio n behavior of FSAs. The thi rd phase happens next where th e cluster memberships labels, c lustered daily consumption profiles, and the significant pa rameters extracted i n the first phase are c ombined to tr ain a classification m odel to predict t he cluster membership of each FSA based on its socio-demogr a phi c parameters. After the training, the mo del is used along with SHAP analysis technique to determine the relative significan ce of e ach parameter in the fi nal prediction, and finally a s et of post pr ocessing and results extraction steps is perfor me d. The tasks and t echniqu es used in th is workflow is elaborated in detail below. Figure 2: Workfl ow of the three phas es of the study Hypothesis testi ng is a statistica l method used to determine whe ther there is enough e vidence in a sample of data to suppo rt a specific hypothesis about a parame ter. It involves comparing observed data against a null hypothesis (which a ssumes n o effect or relationship) and using a significance level to decide whet her t o r eject or f ail t o r eject the null hypothesis, providing insights into the validity of the initial a ssum ptio n. There are different techniques for hypot hes is testing, includ i ng t-test, z-test and ANOVA (Analysis of Vari ance). The latter te chnique has been selected due to its a bility to compare the means of m ul tiple gro ups simultaneously , allowing to determine whether significant differences exist between them without increas i ng the risk of high ra tes of false positives. ANOVA is a sta tistica l technique used to c ompare t he means of th ree or more groups to de termine if there are significant differences b e tween them. By analyzing the variance wi thin and between groups, ANOVA tests whether th e variation in d ata c an be attributed t o diff erences in group me ans r ather than rando m chance (Cabral e t al., 2024). COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 84 Clustering is a machine le arning t ask that involves grouping a set of data points into clusters s o th a t data point s with i n the same cluster are more similar to e ach other than to those in other clusters. It is an unsupervised l earning method, mea ning it identi fies patterns and structure s i n th e data without predefined l abels or c atego r ies. There exist several different clustering techniques, f rom feature-based techniques such as K-Means and DBSCAN, to model-based ones which rely on m o del parameters when determining similarit y, to sha pe-base d ones wh ic h focus on c o mparing the overall patterns or trends i n time series da ta, alig ning sequences to identify clusters with similar sha pes or temporal behaviors. Shape-based clustering is particularly useful in time series a nalysis, where the goal is to find similarities in the structure of the data, even if there are shifts o r distortions in timing o r amplitude. The latter type of techniques is more suitable for the task a t hand a nd hence are selected for this s tudy. More specifica ll y, K -Shape c luster ing, which is design e d t o c luster time series data by aligning seque nces a nd c om paring th eir no r malized shapes is used. K- Shape clustering no t only accounts for sh i fts in the data but also ensures that patterns are grou pe d b ase d on t heir overall tempor al behavior, m aking it an i de al choice for a nalyzing t ime se ries with varying a mpl itudes or time shifts, such a s residential energy consumption patterns a cross different socio-demograph i c groups (Liu e t al., 2023). For the classification machine learning task, XGBoos t technique is selected, which is a highly eff icient and scalable gradient boost ing a lgorith m known for its abilit y to handle lar ge datas ets and deliver high predictive accuracy by optimizin g both bias and variance t hrough boosting wea k learners. It is particularly well-suit ed f or tasks with complex featu re interactions and can eff ectively manage missin g data and over fitting through regu larization (Parvan eh et al., 202 2). SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) analysis is a method used t o inter pret and explain the predictions made by c om plex machin e learning models. It prov ides insights into how individual features c ontribu te to t he predictions of a model by assigning each fe ature a "Shap ley value," based on cooperative game t heory. SHA P is part icularly useful for this stu dy be cause i t offers a c onsistent and mathematically sound way to decompose m odel predictions and determine feature importance ( S ingh & Nagahara, 2024). Results There are 121 FSAs in total in the two c ities of Montreal a nd Quebec City. After cleaning the data, a set of 107 FSAs was selected, including 80 FSA s for Montreal and 27 for Queb ec C ity. One main criterion for selecting t he FSAs was t he compos ition of the energy source in each FSA, with thos e heavily de p ende nt on e lect ricity being c hosen due to the availability of e lectricit y con sumption da ta. The hou rly consumption va lues per capita were weather-normalized to eliminate the effect of variations in outdoor temperature on con sumpt ion. P h a s e 1 : F e a t u r e E v a l u a t i o n The monthly agg regated values of per cap ita consum ption were calculated f or all selec ted FSAs, as shown in f igure 3, categori zed by city. In the ne xt step, a series of feature engineering techniques were performed to r educe t he dimensionality of th e dataset. Using correlation analysis a nd Princip al Component An alysis ( PCA ), relevant fea tures were identified and, where a ppl icable, merge d to create robust predictor featu res. This p rocess was carried out f or each city separately, as the urba n context affects th e prevalence of specific socio-demo graphic f eatures. ANOVA was then conduc ted on th e selected features to deter mine if the variation in energy consumption was significan tl y diffe r en t between the FSAs. The null hypothesis was defined as: “There i s no s ignifican t dif ference i n monthl y per capita energy consump tion across different FSAs w ith different socio-demographic values ” , with a significance level s et to 0.0 5. Table 1 presents the se l ected features after this step. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 85 Figure 3: Boxplot for winte r monthly energy con sumption per c apita Table 7: Selected so c io-demographic param eters Category Si gnificant Para me ters Age Age_group:5_ to_14_years, Age_group:20_to_39_ye ars, Age_group:4 5_to_69_years Dwelling characteristi cs household_size:1_pe r son, h ousehold_size:3_ to_4_pers ons structural_type :Apartment_5+_store ys, structural_typ e:Single-detache d_house (Quebec City on ly) Housing condomin ium_status:Cond omi nium, period_of_const ruction:196 0_or _before, per i od_of_construction : 2006_to_2021 persons_per_ room:More_th an_one_pers on_per_room Owners:%_of_own er_hous eholds_spending_30 % _or_ more_of_its_ income_on_shelter _costs, Renters:%_of_ tenant_household s_spending_30 %_or_more_of_ it s_income_on_s helter _costs Income Household_decile:bot tom, H ousehold_decile:fifth_t o_eight Labour Employment_ra te:Employed Commute Main_m ode:Walked, Main_mode:C ar,_truck_or_ va n Time_leaving:Betwe en_5_and_5:59 (Quebec Ci ty only), Time_leaving:Betwe en_7_and_7:59 Commuting_d estination:Commute_to_ a_different_province _or_territory Commuting_du ration:Less_than_15_ minutes (Quebec City only), Commuting_du ration:15_to_44_ minutes (Quebec C i ty only) Education Location_of_study :Outside _Canada Citizenship Not_Canadian P h a s e 2 : C l u s t e r i n g o f D a i l y P r o f i l e s The time series of each FSA was segmented into daily consumption pr ofi les, c apturing t he hourly energy use f or each day. The se profiles were normaliz ed using sca ler norm alization to ensure that variations in m agni tude did not bias t he clustering results. Once norm alized, t he data was transformed into a four- dimensional array of dimensio ns (107, 6, 31, 24), where 107 represents the number o f FSAs, 6 r epresents months , 31 represents t he m aximum number of days in a m on t h, and 24 re present s hours in a da y. This structure retain s the temporal patte rns nec essary for time-series c lustering. The data was then fe d into t he K-Shape clust ering algorithm. To determine the optimal number of clusters, two validation metrics were used: the Silhouette inde x and the Davies-Bould in index. The Sil houet te COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 86 index assesses how well-separated the c lusters are by comparing the similarity of e ach data point to its own c luster ver sus others, wi th hi gher values indicating better-defined c lusters. The Dav ies-Bouldin index, on the other hand, me asures the average sim ilarity ratio between ea ch c luster and its most similar count erpart. Lower Davie s-Bould in va lues suggest better c luster compactness and separation, making it a n effective to ol for validating clustering results ( Bog ensperger & Fabel, 2021; Okereke et al., 2023). Different numbers of clusters, ranging from 2 t o 6, were te sted, with t he model performing best at two clusters, a s shown in figure 4. Th erefore, t wo clust ers we re selected for furt her a nalysis. Figure 5 presents the daily consumption pr ofiles for both clusters (in gray), along wit h their respective cluster ce nters (i n red). The c lusters differ sign ificantly in their peak c onsu mption behavior. Cluster 1, which represents 80% of the FSAs, exhibits a single prominent peak in e nergy use during t h e evening hours ( from 17:00 to 21:00). This pattern rese mbles a typical residential energy c onsumption, where demand rises as people return home and engage in activities like cooking, heating, and appliance usage. In contrast, Clu ster 2, repr esenting the remaining 20% of FSAs, displays a bimodal pattern, with t wo disti nct peaks i n energy use. The first peak occ urs in the morning (fro m 06:00 to 12:00), likely driven by activities such as breakfast preparation and heating, while t he second peak mirrors t he evening pe ak seen in Cluster 1 (from 17: 00 to 22:00). This cluster may r epresent households with different schedules, such as those with occupants wh o stay home during the da y or have early morning routines. These d istinct co nsumption patterns highlight the diversity of energy use across differen t FSAs and underscor e the importance of tailorin g e nergy efficiency programs t o match th e consumption be havior of each clust er. Addition ally, the pe ak values in Cluster 1 are relatively hig h e r, indicating a greater reliance on e nergy-intensi ve activities during the evening, possibly due t o larger household sizes or mo re energy- consuming app liances. Figure 4: Silhouett e and Davies- Bouldin indexes fo r different nu mber of clusters COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 87 Figure 5: Daily consu mption profiles for cluster 1 (t op) and c l uster 2 (bottom) alon g with their centers P h a s e 3 : C l a s s i f i c a t i o n a n d S H A P a n a l y s i s The output labels fro m Phase 2 were combined with the si gn i ficant socio-d emographic parameters and daily consumption profiles to train an X GBoost c lassi f ication model. The data w as split into training and testing sets wi th an 80/20 ratio. To compare t he context of the two cities, t wo models w ere developed: one for Montre al a nd one for Quebec City. Table 2 shows t he conf us ion matrix for each model. Wit h accuracies of 87% and 69%, respectively , th e models per f ormed well in c lassifying FSAs into the two clusters based on sign ificant s ocio-demo gra phic parameters. After training the models, SHAP analysi s was perfor med to evaluate the relative importance of t he s elected features in t he classification predictions. Figure 6 displays the SHAP values for the top fe atures in e ach m odel, providing in sights i nto the driving factors behind th e classification. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 88 Table 2: Confusion matrices for the two d e veloped models Actual Cluster Montreal Model Quebec City Model Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Predicted Cluster Cluster 1 69% 6% 37% 17% Cluster 2 6% 19% 14% 32% Figure 6: SHAP values for Montrea l (top) and Q uebec C it y (botto m) models As demonstrated by the SHA P values, bot h mo d els are sensitive to the selected features, although t o different extents. In the Montreal model, the t op fiv e features show r elativ ely similar levels o f significance, suggesting a more ba lanced impact across factors on energy consumption. In contrast, i n the Quebec Ci ty m odel, the r atio of households in the bottom inco m e decile has a m uch greater effect on c onsump tion behavior within the respective FSA. Moreover, the proportion of residents leavin g home for work between 7: 00 and 7: 59 ha s near ly double the im portance in Quebec Ci ty c ompared to Montreal. Employment ra te a lso emerges as a more critical factor i n Quebec Ci ty, i ndicating tha t economic condi tions have a stronger i nfluence on energy us e. Similarly, the pr e sence of apartments with five or more storeys is more sign ificant in Quebec C it y. Lastly, bui l dings construct ed before 196 0 are important i n Montreal, but this factor does no t appear to be a s relevant in Quebec City. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 95 Figure 10: Daily average temperature of 925 buildings of one of the partner housing com panies during a warm week in June 2023 (12/06-18/06). 4. Social, cultural and b ehavioural pers pectives The technical specificities of the buil dings may not be enough t o explain these diffe renc es. Building design, su ch as improved in stallations and e nergy- efficient bui lding envelopes, is important but insufficient on its own to mit igate the effects of heat wa ves. Studies have shown tha t buildin gs often underperfor m compar ed to climate m odels, even when constructed according to strict spec ifications (Gram-Hanssen & Georg, 2018). This performance gap highlights the need for a broader approach tha t involves mu ltiple stakeholders a nd consid ers be havioura l, social, and c u l tura l fa ctors in addressin g these events. Several actors c an play a crucial role in reducing the im pac ts of heatwaves. In the e nd, r esidents a re directly interacting wit h thei r li ving environmen ts. Their behaviou r sign ificantly affec ts how they cope with heat, whether through da ily routines or cool-dow n strategies. But before that, local governments and poli cym akers shape the regulatory framewo rk to encourage eff ective heat m anage ment, while urban planners and architects design spaces that either enhance or hinder resilience against extre me temperatures, and building owners and proper ty managers influence heat mi tig ation by de ciding o n maintenance practices and cooling system upgrades . However, an over re liance on technologica l systems l ike a ir conditioning can have unintended negative consequences, including h igher e nergy consumption a nd e xace rbating e nv ironmental i ssues. The tendency t o rely on te chnical solutions such as AC, while offering immediate relief, may lead t o a cycle of increased energy demand and strain on infrastructure. M oreove r, depend i ng too m u ch on technology can prevent individuals from bein g proactive in restorin g their comfort through beh avioural cha nge s. Recognizi ng this, the Swedish Health Agency (2020) instead of pr ioritizing renovations or technological solutions, emphasizes th e importance of adapting personal behaviour to ma na ge heatwaves more e ffectively. Pa ssive design strategies, such as natural shading, thoughtful fe nestrati on and t he possibility of c ross ventilation are also crucial measures t o avoid these problems in new pr oduction. Certain g roups are disprop ortionately affected by heatwaves, particularly the elderly, children, i nfants, people with chronic illnesses or disabilities, pregnant women, and low-inco me residents. These populations often l ack t he r esources or ability t o a da pt to ex treme cond it ions, making h eatwav e management a critical factor in their well-being. In Sweden, heatwaves pose a particular risk, as noted by the Swed ish Health Agency: “Swedish people are not used to high temperatures.” Furthermore, the Swedish Po rtal for Climate Change Ad aptation ( 2020) points out that “temperatures co nsidered as COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 96 normal in a hotter climate can be perceived as uncomfortably hot by people adapted t o a c ooler climate.” This underlines the need for a proactive appr o ach to managing heatwaves i n regi on s unaccustomed to such extremes. How people respond t o heat is deeply embedded i n social and cultural pra ctices. Behavi oura l barriers often preve nt effective heat m anagement, as routines and choices a re s hape d by societal norm s. Fo r example, cultural pract i ces of ten influence how people cool t hei r homes, the tech nologies they use ( or don’t use), and when th ey engage in certain a ctivities. Individual ch oices, while i mportant, m ust be understood w ithin the broa der c ontext of societal exp ectations and habits (Shov e & W alker, 2014). Reducing the nega tive impacts of he atwaves r equi res an understand ing of how these prac tices are enacted, repr oduced, and a dapted. Encouraging p roac tive behaviours, s uch a s a djusting activity patterns and us ing natural c ooling strategies, can r educ e the reliance on technological solutions like a i r conditioning, and its unintended negat ive consequences. The feasibility of such an approach in th e Swedish context, howeve r, is unknown and research on the Swedish population’s behavioura l response to heat is needed. 5. Case studies: Ol d versus new construction According to the Swedish Me teorolog ical Institute, summer 2023 was on average normal compared to the 1991-2020 average. Howeve r, it did exhibit warmer small periods in th e beginning of the summer, compared to the re st. Such heatwa ves can be ve ry challenging for non- a dapted or sensitive occupants. For a preliminary comparison of the summer perfor ma nce of different buildings in our dataset, w e examined data from a heatwave in June 2023 from two buildings, i.e. one from 1890 in th e city centre (Figure 11) and a newly built from 2016 in t he suburbs ( Figure 12). The 1890s building i s compos ed of two parts, one wi th its façade on th e street (A) and o ne in the cou r tyard (B). As can be se en i n Figure 11(a), t he old 1890s buildings managed to maintain indoor air t emp eratures below the r ecommended 26 o C of th e Health Agency of Sweden in most apartments, li kely due to its high thermal mass. Although build ing B houses only 3 apartments, a clear difference in temperature levels can be seen between buildings, with all 3 a partments in bui lding B being a lot cooler, maintaining temperature below 25 o C even when outdo or temperature reached 28 o C. Interestingly, the coolest a partment is th e to p floor a partment of t he courtyard bu ildin g B. Typic al l y, top-level apartments have a high risk of overheating, especially due to the r oof being exposed to solar radiation. Such a partment s are also t ypically not overshade d by surrounding buildings and/or tre es and t herefor e more susceptible to overhe ating. In the 1890s building B, however, the top-level apartment has disti nct temperature drops during the night-tim e that f ollow the outdoor t empera ture drops, which none of the other apartments in the same build ing have to the same e xtent. Opening of roof windows may be a n explanation for this ef fective temper atu re decrease, or other window opening practice. T he temperature drop reaches 3 o C, while during the same time it r emains almos t st able in the other apartments o f the same buil di ng. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 97 Figure 11: (a ) Indoor a ir temperature at hourly timesteps in all a partmen ts of the bui ldings from the 1890s the week 12 /06/23-18/06/23, (b) façade of bu ilding A. Figure 12(a) s hows t he indoor air tem perature duri ng the sa m e w e ek in June 2023 in th e 20 16 building, with the 10 warmest and 10 c ool est apartments highlighted in re d and blue respectively, f or clarity. This newly constructed building appears to have a m o re se vere issue of ove rheating, with the warmest apartments almost c on tinuously exceeding the recommended 26 o C. The air temper ature in the hottest a partmen t reaches 30 o C even at a lower out doo r a ir t empera ture. There are however apartmen ts with much better per formance in the same buil ding.F igur e 12(b) show s the distri bution of a partments in the building by aver age temperature during the heatwave. Clusters of apartme nts can be identified, without clear e xplanation for t heir performance. The planned deta iled analysis of th e extended dataset aims to address this. It ca n also be s een in Fi gure 12(b) that even nearly identical apartments ( same floor, orientation) exhibit different thermal behaviour, whic h will be further investigated i n the project via case-studies, includ ing occupant s urveys. Figure 12: (a) Hourly outside and i ndoor air tempera ture i n t he apa rt ments of the 2016 build ing the week 12/0 6/23-1 8/06/23, with the 10 coolest a nd 10 warmest highlighted in blue and red respectively (a) ( b ) (a) (b) COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 98 (b) sc hem atic provided i n t he housing owners’ platform showing warmes t a partments in red a nd coolest in blue, w ith corres ponding range in between . Conclusions This pa per presents a preliminary study of t he cha llenges associated wit h th e issue of overheating in multi -res ide ntial buildings i n Sweden, via an overview of th e building stock characteristics a nd Swedish context, and a nalysis of tempera ture data from two case study build ings of different age during a he atwave period in 2023. The a nalysis c le arly show s a trend towards a partment bu ilding design that l eads to increased overheating risk. T he lack of over heating c riteria, requirements a nd design guidance t o address t he risk further e xacerba tes the prob lem. The data analysis confirms these concerns, with the newly constructed building e xhibit ing considerably higher indoor temperatures compared to the 1890 s building. Although the presented indoor temp eratures are rather com mon in warmer climates and would not be a cause of concern, in Sweden su ch indoor temperatures may be perceived as very uncomfortab le. The acceptability and t olerance levels of Swedi sh people under warm conditions, as well as their adapti ve mechanisms, behaviours a nd practices at home, are unexplored. T he proj ect’s data analysis and surveys will hopefully shed light i nto the problem and provide the foundation f or future dire ctions, i.e. miti gat ion measures and strategies. Acknowledge me n ts This work received f undin g from the Swedish Resear ch Council FORMAS ( pro ject Nr 2023-02542 and 2023-0116 3) and the S wedish Energy Agenc y ( pr oject Nr P2023-01488 ). References AECOM. ( 2012). Investigation into overheating in homes. Analysis of gaps and r ecom mendations . London. Ayikoe Tettey, U. Y., & Gustavsson , L. (2020). Energy s avings and overheating risk of de ep energy renovation of a m ulti-storey residential building in a c ol d climate under climate c hange. Energy, 202 , 117578. d oi:https://doi.org/10.1016 /j .energy.2020.11757 8 Boverket. (2010a ) . 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COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 100 The issue of water scarcity and its imp a ct on schoolchildren’s comf o rt and wellbeing 1 Diaz, M. 1 , *Ho rmaza bal, N. 2 , Sills, P 2 . *lead presenter 1 muriel.diaz@us m.cl, Universidad Tecnica F ederico S anta Ma r ia, Chile 2 Universidad Tecnica Fed e ric o San t a Maria, Chile Abstract Water scarcity is a lived experience in ma ny locations around t he w orld and is expected t o grow with climate cha nge. This issue can affect the students’ comfort and wellbeing in ways that have not been described in this context. This study investigated if photovoice is a suitable tool to engag e children within thi s c ontext i n describing t h e issue and share th e ir pe rspect i ves on the impact of water sc arc ity has on their comfo rt and well being. As well as identifying p aths to better this issue. Photovoice is a me thod to gather rich a nd relevant data f rom subjects that could be difficult to engage with. For the case o f c hildren this practice empowers and allows them to e xpress their thoughts and feelings t hrough photogra phic techniques. This ca n boost their confidence and encourage them to share their per spectives in ways that mi g ht e ase t he communication w hile being i n a participatory activity. This article is pre senting re sul ts obtained fr om one rura l sc hool in Valparaiso region in Chile working with a gro up of child re n aged 10 to 13 years o ld. This is the f irst selected c ase study out of s ix rural s chools involved in the FSM2395 on-going project. For this, we started with a wo rkshop th at included play and photo taking as me ans to gather data about the impact t hat water scarcity has on their everyday lif e a t sc hoo l. Later we conducted se ssions where children completed the picture taking exercise and con tributed to a structured discuss ion. As children were presenting, t hey were able t o identify factors related to water scarcity that influenced their w el l-being at school and el aborated on how they w e re affected. T hey als o i dentified s ome opportunit i es to improve their en vironment. The f indings i nfo rmed the researchers about pa rameters that could define the problem and possible av enues fo r improvement. T his method proved useful in engaging c hild ren and gathering r ich i nfor m atio n from key subjects that can be difficult to reach otherwise. Keywords Water scarcity; children ; photovoice; participat ory research; we l lbeing Introduct ion Water scarcity is a lived experience in ma ny locations around t he w orld and is expected t o grow with climate change. This i ssue not only thre atens access to esse n t ial water resources but also under m ines environmental and econom ic sustainabil ity in vu lnerable c ommunities. The situa tion is c om p ounde d by the current c limate emergency, whi ch exa cerbates t he water availability i ssue s in a lready str ess ed areas (CEPAL, 2020). This study investig ated if phot ovoice is a suitable tool to engage children in describing the issue and share their perspec tives (Butschi, C., & H edderich, I. 2021) on the impact this has on their comfort and wellbeing. As well as identifying pa ths to better their en vir onment. In re cent dec ades, t he Valparaíso region has been particularly affected by water scarcity. Notably, 37 out of 38 municipalities hav e been declared under water scarci ty decrees (Decrees of Law, 2022 a nd 2023, Ministry of P ubli c Wor ks). These d e crees, wh ic h last f or six months, hig hlight the severity of drought conditions conside red e xceptional and e xtraordinary. S ome are as ar e suppli ed only by tanker trucks, while in othe r s, water availab ilit y is restricted to as li tt le as two hours a d ay. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 101 According to Álvarez-Garretón et al. (2023), climate change has le d to significant decreases in precipitation, r educing river and reservoir flows and affecting the w ater supply for human consumption, a gricul ture, a nd indus try. The Chile Foundation (2019) a lso notes that overexploitation of water resources f or a griculture a n d industry, coupled with inadequate infrastructure, ha s worsened the situation in rural sectors . Water sc arc ity imp acts e very aspect of daily life, parti cularly in rural schools, where children' s comfort and well-be i ng are severely affected. Besides as depicted in the CEPAL rep ort 2020, "[… ] th e Chilean case s tands out due to the lack o f information fo r rural settlements […] rece nt case st udie s show that access to saf e water i s precarious. […] unplanned w ater cuts are described in a period of 6 months in more t h an half of rural drinking wa ter services, […] in 406 rural drinking wat er organizations (AP R) […] out of a universe of 1685 organizations (Fuster, J ara, Vi dal, a nd Abellá , 2016 cited in CEPAL 2020 ), […] scarce water quality monitoring […] a bsenc e of bacteriolog ical tests, […] 9.3% need to supply water in t anker trucks for 6% of APR services, […] Coquimbo and Valparaíso the most affected in their water sources (Dono so, 2018 c ited in CEPAL 2020), an important aspect c onsidering the ' mega dr ought' i n this country over the la st 10 y ears (Garreau d et al., 2020 cited in CEPAL 2 020) .” The scarcity of c lean water and poor sanitation conditions increase the r i sk of wate rborne d iseases, disp r oportionate ly impacting children, especially in a reas de pendent on tanker trucks or w i th severely li mited water access. Additionally, research such as the "Educating W ithout Water" study (Am u lén Foundation, 2021) highlights that water sc arc ity places a burde n on hous e holds, often a ffecting children's attendance and performance in school, e sp ecially girls, whom along with their mothers a re nor m ally re spons ible for water collection and hou sehold management. Photovoice i s employed in this study as a par t icipatory research method that empowers c h ildren to visually document and communicate their experiences with water scarcity. This m ethod helps to capture children's perceptions a nd enables r esea rchers to under stand how wa ter sc arcity affects th eir daily lives, health, and w e ll-being. In the Va lparaíso region, where water shortages are pervasive, using photovoice gives voice to children in rural schools, pr oviding a platform to e xpress their l ived experiences (Kelly, K., Lee , S., Ray, H. Fandaurova, M. 2018) of coping wit h limited wa ter access and the challenge s i t creates in their education and da i ly comfort. The preliminary results of thi s study explore how chil d ren i n rural schools perceiv e wate r scarcity and how i t impacts their co mf ort a nd well-being. Early insights su ggest t hat water scarcity not onl y disrupts their educationa l experiences but also exacerbates heal th risks and emotional stress. This research aims to bring attention to the unique perspecti ves of children and their criti cal role in sh aping community awar eness and act ion. The sit uation in Valparaíso mirrors global trends wh e re water scarcity is beco m ing more preva lent, particularly in rural areas. By f ocusing on chil dren's perceptions, this research contribu te s to broader discussions on the implications of water scarcity for health, education, and ge nder inequality. Understanding children's experiences with water sc arcity can help inf o rm policies that prioritize resource allocation and infrast ructure development in schools and ru r al communi ties. Furthermore, the research e mphasizes the importance of incor p orating vulner able voices, su ch as children and women, in to decision-mak ing proces ses r elated to wa ter manage ment, as thei r perspectives are oft en overl ooked in commun i ty planning. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 102 Methods Photovoice is a method used to gather rich and relevant data coming f rom children and young people. In the case of c hild re n, th ey m ay become easily demo tivated or distracted in f oc us group s essions, or they might lack th e vocabulary to exp ress their op inions fu lly (Kelly, K. et A l., 2018). This p aper presents t he re sults of a pho tovoice case s tudy, w h i ch i s part of a lar ger r esearch project aiming to "strengthen the capacity to adopt prac tical and technological solutions for water scarcity in rural school communities." This on-going project is current l y work ing with six rural schools and their communities (see Table 1) , applying v arious resea rc h tools to work wi t h children and their families . Table 8: Characteriza tion of th e sc hool s Elementar y Rural School Name Location Numbe r of Students Boys Girls Water Reutilizat ion System Mother Househo ld Number of Families per Student IVE- SINA E 1 1 PASO HISTÓ R IC O Putaend o 113 67 46 No 45 99 94,2% 2 LAS PALMAS Llay Llay 120 61 59 No 30 89 95,9% 3 LO ZARA TE Cartage na 58 30 28 Yes N/I 45 91,3% 4 EL RIN CÓN Puchunc aví 88 50 38 Yes 70 75 94,3% 5 POZA VERDE La Ligua 166 93 73 No 96% 6 LA PEÑA Nogales 124 No 85% 1 This index, developed by JU NAEB (the governmen tal office responsible for stude nt ass istance ), reflects the soc ial vulnerabili ty of students throughout their education. It e valuates two primary fa ctors: the ris k of su bsistence, which is linked to poverty and the ava ilability of basic nee ds su ch a s food and shelte r; a nd the risk of school dropou t, which is a ssociated w ith family com position and othe r socio-economic cond itions that may lead to aca demic des ertion. Fieldwork The fieldwork took pl ace in a r ural school in t he Sa n Antonio province, southeastern of the Val para íso region. This province is economical ly dependent on its port and has a Mediterranean climate with coastal influences. The selection for the c ase s tudy was founded on th e c haracteristi cs of the s chool . This school was gr anted a sustainability seal in 2020 by the Ministry of Education. It was desig ne d and built including sustainable strategies princip les and commu nity part i cipator y design. The focus was water and e lectricity resilience, although mo st of th e te chnology lacks prop er m aintenance and is not in use. The fieldwork wa s conduct e d at the end of win ter. Participants w ere 16 c hild ren for the first se ssion and 15 for t he second, whi l e10 children attended both activities. All children were between the ages of 10 and 13. The workshop was de signed to include pl ayfu l activities and photo-taking to g ather data about the impact of water s carcity on their everyday lives at schoo l. The two sessions were plan ned to be one week apart. However , due to unfo reseen circumstances— including students not attending school the day before winter holidays and a two- da y t eacher strike— the a ctivities we re carried out three weeks apa rt. On the first d ay, students were provi ded wi th children's digi tal camera s and i n structed to take pictures relate d to water scarcity. Two students shared COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 103 one camera and were all ow ed t o ta k e up to te n pictures each. They were asked to return t he cameras to their teachers after three days. On the same session a bod y-mapping (Boydel l, 2021) ac tivity was done . To contextualize the issue of water sc arc it y, participants' prior knowledge of the t opic was a ctivated. A f ter a brief introduction to water scarcity, an example body-ma p was shown to the child ren, a nd it was e xplained that they would work in group s. Each group selec ted one member t o tr ace their body outline onto the paper. Th e following questions were t hen presented to th e participants, and they were asked to depict their answers on the body- m ap:  How do you feel the lack of wate r affects your body?  How do you exp erience water sca rcity through sight/ smell/tou ch/Taste/ hearing?  In what other way s does the lack of water aff ect you? The activ ity concluded by asking pa rticipants if the re was anythi ng else they wante d t o a dd to thei r drawings. The f ollow-u p workshop began by asking the c h ildren about their experience w ith t he cameras and whether they we re able to t ake the required pho t os. Then, participants gathered in small groups (five children each) to share a nd discuss the photographs they had taken. Each child explained t he meaning behind their photos and how they r elated to t h e theme o f wa ter scarcity. The participants c ollectively selected the most powerfu l and representativ e photographs for f urther analysis and potential use i n advocacy efforts. The participants wrote captions and i ncluded drawings an d st ickers an d sh ort n arratives t o accompany the s elected pho t ographs, providing context and explaining the significance of ea ch image. They worked on a po ster th at summarized t heir findings a nd main id eas. When they ide ntified a group of images ref erring t o t h e same theme, they g r ouped them and c reated a collec tive description. Researchers guid ed the work and d iscussion by add ressing t he following que stions:  What proble m do you see or show i n the image?  How does this prob l em aff ect you (impac t on well-being)?  How could this problem be solved? After th e discussion, the part icipants presen ted th eir findings to their peers and t he r esearche rs. These presentations were recorde d for further a nalysis. Figure 13: Set of pictur es depicting lo Zarate sc hoo l , workshop sessions a nd sustainable strategies applied to the buil ding design. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 104 Data ana lysis The results of the workshop were int erpreted through thematic analysis of the pho t ographs, pos ters and accompanying na rratives cap tured on v ideo. Consid ering the age of t he childre n, the analysis was conducted without participation of the c hildren. To identify t he themes, t he infor mation on the post ers and given in t he presentatio n was used. Researchers transcrib ed the children’s ve rbal explanations and captions, cre ating a dataset of bo th visual a nd textual data. Using an induct ive approach, t he data were systematica lly coded to identify patterns, key ideas, and com mon experiences expressed by the pa rticipants. The coding process focused on responses to key questions, s uch as how wate r scarcity a ffected thei r eve ryda y lif e, ho w did they and their families a dapted to wate r scarcity and what solutions th ey could envision. Also, the broader im pact on their well-being was considered. Through this iterativ e process, major themes were refined and categorized, al lowing for a de tailed exploration of how children perceived and experience d the issue of water scarcity in their school env ironment. The thematic a nalysis provided a structured way t o interpret t he r ich visual a nd narr ative data, while ensuring t hat the children's voices r emained central to the findings. Ethical Cons i deration s Given the invol vem ent of childre n in this study, ethical considerations were taken to e nsure thei r safety, privacy, and we l l-b eing. Informe d consent was obtained from both the children’s parents and the chil dren t hemselves. The purpose of th e study, the a ctivities involv ed, and th e use of the photographs were e xp l aine d clearly to both th e chil d ren and their f amilies, ensuring they understood their rights to w ithdraw from the study at any poin t without consequence. To protect th e participa nts’ identities, no pe r sonal informatio n was li nked to the photographs or captions , and a ll data were anonymized. Fu rthermore, steps were tak en to ensure that the children felt comfortable and safe dur ing all activities. Particip ation was voluntary, a nd researchers pr ov ided a supportive e nviro nment, encouraging equal participation and ensuring that the childre n’s perspec tives were r espected. Special attention was given t o safeguard ing the well-being of the ch i ldren th roughou t the research process, with re sea r chers monitoring emotional responses and providing support if any distress arose from discussions rela ted to water scarcity. Results Before sessions, the rese archers met with the schoo l director, the main teacher of the selected class and the teacher that leads the sustainabili ty curricula to explain the objec ti ve of the pr oject a nd defined which class would work with eac h of the met hodolog ies. As it i s c ommon in r ura l schoo ls, two levels are grouped together, in thi s case 3 rd and 4 th ye ar. T h i s meant that the participan ts were betwee n 10 and 13 years old. All c hildren are Chilean and live in ru ral settings. The overall socio-economi c st atus of c hildren attend ing the school wa s low, as indicated by the IVE- SIN AE i ndex of 91,3%. This i ndex, developed by JUN AEB (the gov er nmen tal office responsible for student assi stance), reflects the social vu lnerability of st udents throughout their education. It evaluates two primary f actors : t he risk of s ubsis tence, which is linked to pover ty a nd the availab ility of bas ic needs such as f ood and shelter; a nd the risk of school dropou t, which is associated with family composition a nd other socio-economic conditions that m ay lead to academic desertion. The high level of vulnerability highlighted by this index underscores the c hallenges face d by these children, not only in terms of econo mic hardship bu t also in their access to stabl e educ ation and resource s. As for wate r availability at school, the schoo l r eceives potable water with a cistern-truck, they have a condensation unit that provides dr inking water a nd a pur ification w e tland that treats greyw ater. Th e school also had a tank to collect rainwater that could be used to flush toilets when no other sources are available. This sys tem allowed t he s chool to function on days wh e n other schools had to cance l activities due to water shor tage . COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 111 The methodology for this study is outlined in a flowchart i n Figure 2 and is organ ized in to t wo stages. The first stage focuses on the microc l imate at the neighbourho od level, while the second stage examines indoor co mfort studies in fluenced by the se microcli mati c cond itions. In t he f ir st s t age, a t raditional buil t form is used as a bas e case t o an alyse user comfo rt at the neighbourhood level, which is evalu ated using th e Universal Thermal C omfor t Index (UTCI) matrix. The UTCI in t he courtyard i s i nfluenced by various factors, i ncluding surfa ce temperatures, ambient air, a nd microcli matic modifiers such as aspect rati o, wind speeds, and wind dire ct ion. Multiple de sig n iterations were tested against the baseline scenar io to assess improve ments in user comfort, with an emphasis on opt imizin g courtyard designs. T he UTCI st udy was c onducted using Ladybug t ools and Computation al fluid dyna mic s (CFD) analysis to test t he aspect ratio wa s do ne by Autodesk CFD 2023. Expanding on the insights from the neighborhood-le ve l study, t he second stag e f ocused on in doo r comfort within indiv id ual r esidential un its, particularly a r epresentative mi d-leve l bedroom. Simulation-based analy sis, utilizing t oo ls like Radiance for dayligh t and Ener gy Plus for t herma l modelling, were conducted to asse ss various pass ive design strategies. The outcomes of these simulations guided the design proposa l of a n urban bl ock within th e selected Olymp ic village, demonstrating how th ese s trategies can be applied on a br oader sc ale to create resilient, climate- responsive housi ng for lega cy use . Figure 2: Methodolog y 2.1 Climate and u se r comfort Ahmedabad's c limate is classified as hot and dr y (Köppen–Geiger climate classification). In t his study the design a nalyses for the f uture development of the Olym pic village, a 2050 f uture weather data file obtained fr om t he Met eonorm tool was assumed. For a nalysis, t y pical t est days representing a hot day (sunny), a mild da y ( over c ast), and a c old day (sunny) were selected. The wind flow is mode rate, primarily coming from the southwes t direction during the monsoon and summer periods. The considerable diurnal temperature variations in Ahmedabad, averaging 25K during winters and 18K during sum mers, suggest th e potential to capital ize on l ow nigh t-time temperatures for user comfort. The comfort matrix used in this study is th e Indian Model for Adaptive Comfo rt (IMAC), w hi ch is derived from t he ASHRAE -55 adaptive comfor t model but spec ifically t ailored for the Indian context (CARBSE). 3. Neighborhood s t udy Ahmedabad, as a city, exhibits highly diverse a nd contrasting built environments that contribu t e to its unique urban fabr ic. The prevalent morphology in the ol d city’s urban fa bric is referred to as the “Pol”. These areas are densely populated, creating a la byrint h of winding narrow lanes that f orm a series of micro-neighborhood s as shown i n Figure 3. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 112 The Pol typology i n Ahmedabad, c haracter ized b y dense urban contexts, ensures well-shade d neighborhoods durin g i ntense summer pe riods. The narrow streets be tween buildings main t ain comfor t throughout the day. At the in dividual resi dent ial unit level, the prese nce of compact courtyards, self- shaded by building facades, emerges as a vital element for thermal design also serving as communa l gathering space s. Howeve r , studies re v ea led that the courtyard’s performa nce varies during the monsoon due to high hu midit y and a lack of air movement. Figure 3: a) Layou t of POL neig h borhood b) 3D massing of POL ne i ghborhood 3.1 Courtyard i n POL typology An analytical study of th e P ol typology was conduc ted on open spaces and courtyards to analyze aspect ratios and mi croclimatic comfort wi thin these areas. Thermal be haviou r in Summer : The design of c h owks ( or courtyards) effectively reduces solar radiation i n the summer through mutual sha d ing, owing to their tall and narrow shapes. Courtyard windows are opened at night t o draw in cool breezes and closed during the day to minimize solar heat gain. Thermal be hav iour i n Monsoon : Du ring the Monso on se ason, high relative humidity, c oupled with moderate temperatures, no t as high a s sum mers, r esult s i n uncomfortable hot and humid conditions. In such scenari os, t he closed courtyards b ecome uncomfortable due to insufficient op enings fo r a ir movement. The courtyard design m ust balance the need for a i r moveme n t du r in g t he mon soon while provid ing shading and restric ting air movement during th e summer. Figure 4 illustra tes the behavio r of a compact courtyard. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 113 Figure 4: Illustration showing th e beha viour of the courtyard i n different per i ods 4. Courtyard Pl anning The pl anning of a courtyard depends on factors like aspe ct ratio, ori entation, air moveme n t and solar control. In recent research it was found that dee p sout h-facing cour tyards with H/W ratios of 3 :1 an d 2:1 (in 3-sided models) are effective for enhancing thermal performance i n hot-d ry climates (Nazanin Nasrollahi, 2017). Building on these insights, a n a n alytical study was conducted for Ahmeda bad , considering the primary southwes t wind di re ction (T able 1). 4.1 Orientation A simple bui lding block was evaluated in all four ori entat ions to det ermine the optimal place m ent based on wind and solar perfo rmance. The analysis reveale d t hat blocks fa cing sout h, a nd west were more e ffective in facilitating wind moveme nt within the courtyard during the humid monsoon pe riod , due to pre d ominant wind f low f rom the southwest. In terms of solar exposure , a building oriented along the north-sou t h axis performed bet ter, as it minimi zed the facade surf ac e ar e a exposed to the eas t and west. Consequently, the study proc ee ded with the building o r iented along the nor th -south axis, with the courtyard f acing south. 4.2 Aspect ratio A typical building block with a t hree-s ide d c o urt yard oriented to the south was further evaluated using different cou rtyard aspect r atios. Comp utational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and solar r adiation analyses were used as tools to generate a matrix of i terations with varying a spect ratios ( Table 1). The a nalysi s indicates that a cour tyard w it h an aspect ratio o f 2:1 is most effective in reduc ing solar radiati on during the sum mer months due to mutual shading, while also all owing sufficient wind flow. Other aspect ratios examined were less effective in block ing direct radiation, and t he 3:1 aspect rati o di d not provide any addit ional reduction in rad iation levels. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 114 Table 1: Sum mary of main finding s from analytical wo r k 4.3 Wind flow and solar s hading The out comes from previo us a nalyses underscore the importance of employing selective strategie s tailored to the s u m mer an d monsoon periods in this clim ate. A UTCI comfort st udy for external outdoor spaces reveals elevated temperatures during summ er afternoons, primarily due to overhead sun exposure and the influence of the hot, dry wind (loo). To evaluate the effectiveness of mitigatin g direct solar e xposur e , a sim p le shading dev ice , designed to bl ock 80% of direct radiat ion, w as implemented. This intervention signi ficantly reduced UTCI te mperatures. Add i tionally, the se l ecti ve ventilation strategy, whic h involves re gu lating wind flow dur ing the summer and a llowing ventilation during the monsoon, further reduced afte rnoon temperatures— typically when c ourtyards were m ost occupied. (Figure 5) CO M F O R T A T T H E E X T R E M E S INV E S T I N G I N W E L L - B E I N G I N A C H A L L E N G I N G F U T U R E 1 15 Figure 5: UT CI for Ahmedabad: selective ventilation an d s hading st rategy 4.4 Application on site The selected site in Motera, near Ahmedabad, is st rategically sign ifica nt due t o its proximity to the Sabarmati R i ver, offering opportunities to le verage the cooling effects of the water body in a hot-dry climate. A neighbourhood wit hin the urban plan was c ho sen as a s cena rio to apply insi ghts from courtyard planning, d e rived from bo t h analytical work and learnings from tradit ional typology. Figure 6 il l ustra t es th e conceptual d evelopmen t of the n e ighbourhood p la nning, d emarcating:  Height Variation: A gradual increase in building h eight from south to north t o optimize sunlight exposur e during th e mil d w i nter months.  Internal Courtyards : Internal courtya rds with a 2 :1 aspect r atio was created within ea ch building block s trategically ensu ring spatial balance.  Ground-Leve l Porosity: The e liminat ion of built-form at ground level to cr eate openings fo r selective ventilation, facilitated the connection between courtyards and open spac es, which are strategically oriented towar ds so u th or west. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 116 Figure 6: Design s teps for neighbo rhood mass ing 5. Building Design At building level design, internal c ourtyar ds f unct ion as t hermal buffer z ones were considered to ensure a smooth transition from open outdoo r sp aces to enclosed areas. The c ourtyards were strategically placed before residential units offering a comfortable transi tion, protecting occupan ts from direct solar e xposure and ser v i ng a s shading devices for the interior spaces. At the unit level, the building’s design and ve ntilation s trategy are cruc ial for achieving therma l comfort and provid ing sufficient daylight. 5.1 Selective venti lation for cou rtyard The r esidential buil ding, designed with a th ree- story c ourtyard t ypolog y, i ncluded a smaller courtyard strategically positioned near the circulation block and oriented north to ensure consistent self-shading with minimal so lar e xpos ure th r oughout the year. This s ma ller courtyard, e quip ped with a Jaa li fenestration to facilitate air mo vement during winter and monsoon periods, is a lso suitable for smal l functions. The c ent ral courtyard design incorpora tes a rotatable panel m echanis m to c ont rol wind fl ow under different c limatic conditions. Inspired by vernacular a rchitectu re, these 3.5-m eter-high panel s allow users to either compl etely enclose the building o r open it up t o enhan ce wind circulation. (Figu r e 6) A thermal mode l was de v eloped to assess the i mpact of wind f low regulation usin g th e propose d panels. The external courtyard temperature was estimated wi th th e UTCI as a n i ndic a tor, and th e values were then used as input in the t hermal sim ulation to evaluate the 'feels-like' temperature ba sed on surface condi tions. 5.2 Internal Th ermal analysis The thermal analysi s focused on an e ast-facing m id-level bedroo m within a re sidential unit, considering worst-ca se scenarios in Ahme dabad's clim ate. The i nput parameters c onsidered f or simulation are shown in Table 2. Therm al bu ffer zone a nd courtyard were considered a s adjacen t zones in t he multi-model energy simulation setup. It invol ved four key steps. Initially, window optimization r educed the gl azing percentage, lea din g to a 2K temperature drop by minimizing solar heat gai n. This was followed by night purge ve ntilation, which maintained indoor tempera t ures within comfort limits by leveraging diurnal temperature differences. The addition of e xternal insulation a nd shading de vice s f urther reduced temperatures by 1.5K, addr essing the challenge of high night-tim e temperatures. Finally, increased air mo ve me nt via ceiling fans lowered the operative temperature by an additional 2- 3K ensuring comfortable indoor c onditions even on ho t da ys. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 117 Table 2: Input para m eters for indoor ther ma l simulation of an eas t facing b edroom 6. Key finding s 6.1 Outdoor spaces: Cour t yard The s imulation results showed t hat whe n t he panels are ope n, the UTCI te mperature in the c ourty ard decreased by 2K to 3K c o mpared to when the panels were closed, demonstra ting the effectiveness o f wind f low. A ddit ionally, the study examined th e rmal bu f fer s pace, r eve a ling lo wer av erage temperature compared to courtyard due to i ncr e ased wind flow and reduced sun exposure, which further enhanced th e therm al c om fort of indoor spac es. (Figure 6- a ) Figure 6 (b) pr ese nts the UTCI st udy f or both courtyards. During the su mmer, shading devices wer e used to block direct radiation. The study showed t hat, under higher temperatures, th e smaller courtyard maintains a lower t emperature, approa ching comfort levels, with selective ventila tion strategies contributing to main taining comfor table condit ions during m odera te periods. 6.2 Residential block: Internal sp ace The co mbined strateg ies (Figure 7) e f fectively optim ized therma l comfo r t, with e a ch step progressively enhancing the roo m's thermal p erformance. The internal operative temperature was lowered by 15 K from base case scenario. Figu re 7 shows the final operative temperature achieved inside the bedroom. The perc entage of comfort hours increased signi ficantly from 22% in t he base case scenario to 95 % in the fina l iteration. Figure 6: a) UTCI t emperat ur e for courtyard and operative temperature for buffer spa ce on a moderate day. b) UTCI study for central a nd s mall cour tyard for typic a l hot, moderate and mil d day COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 118 Figure 7 a ) Graph for t hermal si mulation on a hot day for east facing bedroo m 7b) Annual Co mfort Hours of the east facing bedr oom for all the stra t egies 7. Conclusion s This st udy highl ights the effectiveness of passive design strategies in enhancing thermal comfort in residential sc hemes in Ahmedabad' s hot-dry climate. Optim izing c ou rtyard configura tions with a 2:1 height-to-wid th ratio a nd South-facing o rientation, a lo ng with the use of rotatable panels f or selective ventilation, l ed to significant temperature reductions, ac hieving up to a 5K d rop f rom base c a se scenario in indoor temperat ure s. On a moderate ly warm day, the courtyard's temperature is 2-3K lowe r than the outsi de t emperature. The thermal buffer space experiences an additional 3K dr op, resulting in an apartment's i nternal te mperature that is c omfo rtably within the comfort range, with an overall decrease of 6K fro m the e xternal temperatu re. These strategies proved e ffective in mi tigating e xtrem e temperatures during both sum mer and monsoon seasons. Figure 8 shows the key passive strategies incorporated i n the design, and per formance of key space s during a hot day, visualized in form o f a building section. The research demon strates that integrating micr o climate -respon sive de sign elements at both the neighbourhood and building levels can significantly enhance living conditions. The findings are particularly relevant to the design of the 2036 O l ympi c village, where creating climate-resilien t housing is c rucial. The study underscores the potential of passi ve de sign solutions to address pressing challenges in hot climates , offering a model for creating sustainab le and resilient u r ban environmen ts. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 119 Figure 8: Long itudinal se ct ion showing environmenta l st rategies f or a moderate day in Ah medabad at 17:00. 8. References Gang, S. (2024). Adaptive R euse of Olymp ic Vi llages: MArch Dissertation, Sustainable Environmental De sign, Architectural Ass ociation Scho ol of Architecture, London . ABC news network, (2023). abc ne ws. [Online] Available a t : https://abcnews.go.c om/Sports/ph otos/abandoned-o lympic-venue s-globe-409982 83 [Ac cessed 15/04/2023]. Chalkley, B., & Essex, S., (1999). Urban development through h osting i nternat ional e vents : a histor y of Olympic games. Pl annin g Perspectives, 14(4 ) , pp. 369-394 . Nasrollahi, N., Shokri, M. H., Khe irabadi, R., & Mofidi, M. T., (2017). Numerical e valuation of thermal comfort in traditional c ourtyard s t o develop new microclimate design in a hot and dry climate. Sustainabl e Cities and Societ ies, 1(35), pp. 44 9- 467 . COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 120 Exploring Fu ture Passive Habitab ility of a Can adian Hou si ng Archetype i n Different Clim ate Zones 1 *Abuimara, T., 2 Hobson , B .W., 2 Elehwany, H. & 3,4 Abdeen, A. *Lead presenter 1 tareq.abuimara@uaeu. ac.ae , United Arab E m irates Universi ty, UAE 2 Carleton University, C anada 3 University of Wo llongong, A ustralia 4 Asyut University, Egy pt Abstract Climate change-driven extreme weather events such as heatwaves, c old sn aps, and r ainstorms pose an unprecedented c hallenge to the built environ ment. It ha s been observed that the frequency a n d intensity of such weather events a re increasing. Therefore, buildings must be design ed, constructed, and operated in a wa y that makes the m resilient to suc h extreme weather e vents. To this e nd, t his paper aims to explore the passive habitability of a C anadian housing archetype usi ng building performance simulation. Passive habitab ility is t he duration a building remains ha bitabl e during a p ower outa ge ( i.e., when there is a n abs ence of mechan ical HVAC) that coincides w i th an extreme weather event su ch as a hea twave. A base c ase energy m odel of a Canadi an housi ng archetype was created using DesignBuilder. The housing archetype used in this study is one of the a rchetypes developed by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) for deve loping prescriptive energy code re qu i rements and are i ntended to se rve as statistical representation of t h e physical and ene rgy-related featu res of contemporary C a nadian hous in g. The housing a rche type energy mo del was simulated using current typical meteo rological year (T MY ) files and projected future TMY files ba s ed on 0.5 °C to 3.5 ° C inc reases in the g lobal averag e temperature i n t hre e Cana di an c limate zones: Z one 4 ( Van couver), Zone 6 (Ottawa), a nd Z one 7 (Edmonton). Then, the passive habi tability of the housing archetype was r ecorded f or each climate zone to assess the r esilience of the housing ar chetype across the th ree Canadian cl imate zones. The r esults indicated that the shortest passive habitabi lity dura ti ons were observed in Edmonton w ith 1-2 hours duration. On the c ontra ry, the mo del simulated i n Vancouver dem onstrated the longest durations of pa ssive habita bility with at lea st 2 hours in the m ost e x t reme cases (pr ojected + 3.5 °C increases in the global a verage temperature). The result s of this study indicated that the t h erma l resilience of housing stock in Canada needs to be i nvestigated and plans need to be put in place to futureproo f existing housing in face of climate change-d r iven weather event s . Keywords Housing; Ther mal R esilience; Pass ive Habitability; Climate Change Introduct ion The consequences of c limate change and their in fluence on the built envi ronment are more evident than ever. The i nte nsity and frequency of climate change-d riven extrem e weather e vents such as heatwaves, cold snaps, f loods, wildfires, etc., have been increasing drastically i n recent de cade s (Francis and Hengeve ld, 1998; Collins et al. , 2013; Ho ng e t al. , 2023; Siu e t al. , 2023). These extreme weather events influence buildings as they fre quen tly cause or c oincide w i th power outage s, renderin g mechanical heating, ve ntilation and air con ditioning (HV AC) systems inopera ble (Williams, 2007 ; ’Kesik, 2019). The a bsence of m echanical HVAC during e xtreme weather events poses a thre at to the COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 127 Figure 21: The simu lated passi ve habitability of the Canadian hou sing archetype using projected weather data based on +3 .5 °C increase of the global t emperature average. Conclusion This paper attempts to shed light on the c urren t the rmal r esilience of Canadian housing by assessing the passive habit ability of a representative hous ing a rchetype. T he stu dy includes testing a housing archety pe in different Canad ian locations (i.e., climate zones) and usin g current a nd projec ted weather data b ased on the esti mated global temperature increase . Overal l, the r esults i ndicated t h e housing archetype, with t heir current specifications, will become less thermall y resilient as the passiv e habitability was observed to be come shorter with the rise of global average temperature. Although the results of t his study provided in sights on the current status of housing thermal resilience throug h measuring passive habitab ility using indoor operative temperature in three different Canadian c limat e zones, there is still other thermal r esilience metrics that can be a ssessed to provide a more holist ic understanding of the thermal re silience of hous ing i n Canada. A dditionally, the study investigated on e housing archetype (model 3) out of eleven (11) arche types developed by NRCan. Conduc ting similar investigation on the remaining housi ng archetypes would pr ovid e more insightful re comm endations to improve thermal resilience in Canadian housing. F inally, the investigation i n this study was focu sed on the housi ng resilience for over heat ing as the case study was tested during a he a twave. Future w ork should consid er testing t he housing archetypes du ring cold sn aps to e valuate their readiness t o su ch weather events. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 128 References Abdeen, A. e t al. ( 2021 ) ‘I nvestigation of occupant-r e lated e nergy aspects of the National Bui lding Code of Canada: Energy use impact and potential le ast-cost code -comp li ant upgra des’, Science and Tec hnology for the Buil t Environment , 27(1 0) , pp. 1393–1424. Asaee, R., Ferguson, A. and Wi lls, A. (2019) ‘Ap plication of a housing technolog y assessmen t simulation platform in regulation R&D’, in 16th Annu al I BPSA In ternational Con f erence . ASHRAE ( 2013) 2013 ASH RAE Handbook: Fundamenta ls . Ashrae. Attia, S. et al. ( 2021) ‘ Resilient cooling of buildings to protect against heat waves and power outages: Key c oncepts a nd defini ti on’, Energy and Buildings , 239, p. 110869. A vailable at: https://doi.org/10.101 6/J.E NBUILD.2021.110869. Collins, M. e t al. (2013) ‘L ong-term climate cha nge: projections , commi t ments an d irreversibil it y’. DesignBuilder Software Ltd - (2023) P roduct Overview . Available at: https://designbu ilder .co.uk /software /product-over view (Accessed: 6 June 2023). Francis, D. a nd Hengevel d, H. (1998) Extreme wea ther and climat e change . Environment Ca nada Ontario. Gaur, A. and Lacasse, M. (2022) ‘Climate D ata t o Support the Adaptation of Bui ldings to Climate Change in Canada’, Data , 7 (4). Available at: ht tps://doi .org/10.3390/data7040042 . Hong, T. e t al . ( 2023) ‘ T en questions conce r ning t hermal resilience of build ings and occup ants for climate adaptation’, Bu ilding and Env ironment , 244, p. 110806. Kesik, T., O’Br i en, W. and Ozkan, A. (2 022) ‘Toward a standardized framework fo r thermal resilienc e modelling a nd its practical application to futurep roofing’, Science and Technology for the Built Envir onment , 28(6), pp. 742–756. Available at: https://doi.org/10.108 0/237 44731.2022.2043069. ’Kesik, T.’ O.L. ’ (2019) Th e rmal Resilience Des i gn Guide . Toron to . Lechner, N. (2014) Heating, cooling, lighting: Sustainable design methods for architects . John wiley & sons. National Research Council ( 2020) National Energy Code of Canada fo r Buil d ings . Ottawa, Canada : Goverment of C anada . Rahif, R. (2023) I mpact of Climate Change on High-P e rformance Belgian Houses: Thermal Comfort, HVAC Energy Perfo rmance, and HV AC GHG Emiss i ons . Rostami, M. and Bucking, S. (2024) ‘Adap tation to extreme w eather events usi ng pre-condi tioning: a model-based tes ting of novel resilience algorith ms on a r esidential c ase stu dy’ , Journal of Building Performan ce Simulation , 0(0), pp. 1–22. Available at: https://doi.org/10.108 0/194 01493.2024.2307636. Siu, C .Y. et al. ( 2023) ‘Evaluating thermal re silience of buil ding designs using buil ding pe rform anc e simulation – A re view of e xisting practices’, B uil ding and Environment , 234, p. 110124. Available at: https:// doi .org / 10.1016/J.BUI LDENV.2023.110124. Sun, K., Specian, M. and Hong, T. (2020) ‘Nexus of thermal r esilience and ene rgy efficiency in buildings: A case study of a nu rsing home’, Building and Environment , 177, p. 106842. Available at: https:// doi .org / 10.1016/J.BUI LDENV.2020.106842. UN (2017) ‘ Report on t he Open-Ended Intergovern mental Expert Working G roup on Indic ato rs and Terminology Re l ating to Disas ter R is k Assessment, 71 Ses sion’, United Nations: New York, NY, USA [Pre print]. Wang, X. et al. (2015) ‘ Increasing fre quency of extreme f ire w eather in Cana da with climate change’, Climatic Change , 130(4), pp. 573–586 . Available at : https://doi.org/10.1007 /s10584-015- 1375-5. Williams, D.E. (2007) Sust ainable design: eco logy, architecture, and p la nning . J ohn Wiley & S ons. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 129 Overheating in Residential Buildings 1 Hampo, Chima Cyril, 1 *H oque, S imi, Ph.D., 2 Schinas i, Leah, Ph.D. *Lead presenter 1 [email protected] , College of Engineer i ng, Drexel U niv ersity, USA 2 School of Publi c Health, Drexe l University, USA Abstract Amidst r ising g lobal t emperature s, the discrepancy between indoor and outdoor t empe rature measurements has significant implications f or public health research. Most epidemiological studies of associations between heat a nd mortality or morbidit y out comes utilize outdoor temperature metric s to assess exposures to heat. These may not accura tely reflect the indoor environments where adults spend most of t heir time. This st udy i ntroduce s an approach for assessing exposu re to indoor dry and wet bulb temperature a nd abs ol ute humidity using phy sic s-based energy simulations. W e leveraged physics-based simulations a nd Department of Energy (DoE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) r eside ntial building proto types to a ssess sum mertime indoor thermal c onditions across divers e U.S. cli mate zo nes. Our app roa ch accounts for vary ing outdoor temperatures and humidities, including ex treme heat events, r esidenti al building character istics, such as roo f ty pe, insulation le vels, surfac e area, and different air conditi oning ( AC) usage levels (100%, 50%, a nd 0%) on indoor env ironment s. Initial findings f r om hot h umid, hot dry a nd mixed humid climate zones indicate a relationship between hi gher outdoor air temperatures and incr eased in door temperatures, although values are not t he same. W hile ventilation and air cond i tioning usage significantly re duc e indoor heat, i t is less effective during extreme heat waves. Outdoor conditions and air condi tioning usage also critically affect indoor weather, with substantial increases observed during heat eve nts, a nd seasonal peaks in July. Our approach can be used to suppor t the integration o f indoor environ mental factors in to large, geographically diverse, population based epidemiological s tudies to enhance the accuracy of health r isk assessments rela ted to tempera ture. Keywords Indoor overh eating; Residential buildi ngs; T her mal c omfort; Extreme heat exposure; Ene rgy simulations COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 130 Introduct ion As global tempera t ures continue to rise, the threat of indoor overheating in r esidential building s becomes a critical public health concern, especially during extreme weather e vents such as heatwaves . Although epidemiological studies have long establis hed a re lationship between outdoor temperature and heat-related he alth outcomes, these st udies fail to accurately c apture the indoor thermal conditions experienced by occupants (Holmes et a l., 2016). Indee d, indoor thermal condit ions, where individuals spend nearly 90% of their t ime often deviat e sign ificantly from outdoor environments (Uejio et al., 2016). Studies have shown that i ndoor temperatures during he at events can significan tly diffe r from outdoor r eadings, leading t o an underestimation of he at exposu re risks (McGill e t al., 2017). This discrepancy is part icularly evident i n residential buildings, where factors such as insulation, ventilation, and air conditioning (AC) usage profoun dly influence indoor tempe r atures and h umidity levels. For instance, duri ng the summer of 2020 i n England, excess mo rtality due to heat disproportionate ly affected old er ad ults, highlight ing t he vuln er abi l ity of populatio ns exposed to extreme indoor hea t (Thompson et al., 202 2). The lit era ture e mphasizes the inadequacy of outdoo r temperature metrics as proxies for indoor heat exposure. Indoor environ ments can si g ni ficantly overheat during heatwav es, e specially when mechanical cooling systems ar e inade quate or absent (Pyrgou et al., 2017; Velash jerdi Farahani et al. , 2021). In fa ct, residential buildings in regions like Northern Europe face he ightened risks of overheating as they are typic al ly not des igned to accommodate mechanical cooling (Velashjerd i Farahani et al., 2021). S imilarly, i ndoor overheating c an pe rsis t even in air-conditioned homes, particularly when AC systems are not function ing optimally due to energy burden or equipment failure (Baniassadi e t a l., 2019). Energy burden refers to the f inanc ial strain househol ds face when energy costs c onsume a significant portion of th eir income, often li miting their a bility t o adequately c ool their homes, even when A C systems are installed and fully ope rationa l. Furthermore, while pa ssive strategies such as external shading a nd nat ura l ventilation c an mitigate overheating, thei r effectiveness is hi gh l y dependent on bu ilding de sign and regi onal climate conditions. Habitzreuter et al. (2020) demonstrated that passive cooling measures, including external shading, could reduce indoor overheating by up to 74% during heatwaves in Lon don, but this comes at the c ost of r educed dayl ight. Conversely, poorly insulated or inadequately ve ntilated buildings can exacerbate in door overhe ating, with occupants often relying on energy-in tensive cooling solutions, which, in t urn, i ncrease power consumpt ion and carbon emissions ( Ou anes et al ., 2022). This issue is compounded by urban he a t isl and e ffe cts, whi ch elevate night time tempera tures and reduce the effectiveness of natural cooling strategies, further aggravating the indoor overheating problem (Mavrogianni et al., 20 12). Despite significa nt advances in under standing ou tdoor climate i mpacts on health, there is a notable gap in literature regarding ind oor heat exposure. Most c urrent models fai l to ac co unt for variations in building characteristics, air conditioning (AC) usage, and occupancy behaviors, which are essential fo r accurately a ssessing indoor heat e xposure (Chen, 2019). For example, hig hly insulated homes, t hou gh effective during winter, are more prone to ov er heat ing in sum mer, pa rticularly when combi ned w ith improper ventilation strategies (Wang et al., 2017 ). This k nowledge g a p hinders t he deve l opment of accurate health risk assessments and effective mitigation strategies, especially as extreme heat eve nts become more f requent and intense due to climate chan ge. We address this gap in the liter ature by developing a robust, physics-based modelling a pproach for assessing indoor overheating in residential buildings a cross the Un ited States. Utilizing simu l ation s based on Dep artment of Ene rgy (DOE) and National Renewable Energy Labor ator y (NREL) residential building prototypes, th is approach will quantify the effects of varying outdoo r temperatures, climate zones, building c ha racteristi cs, and air co nditioning us age l evels on indoo r thermal conditions. The aim is to bett er understand how t hese factors influence indoor thermal conditions, u nder different sum mer heat scenar ios. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 131 Specifically, in this paper, we will prese nt a cas e study tha t will: 1. Assess the r e lationship between outdoo r and indoor the rmal c ondition s ac ros s t hree U.S. climate zones (4A, 2B, 1A) during su mm er mo nths. 2. Quantify t he e ffects of AC usa ge le vels ( 100% t o no AC usa ge) on i n door overheating durin g heat events, including e xtr eme heatw aves, in a proto typical single fa mily residenti al home. The goal of t his research to p r ovide critical insights into how re sident i al buildings of diverse geometries a nd c onst ruction sy stems can be better designed or retrofitted to minimize heat-related health risks, particularly in a warming climate where the frequency of extreme heat e vents is e xpec ted to increase. By developing a physics-based method to quantify indoor th ermal conditions, we offer a valuable tool for public he alth researchers, policymakers, and urban p lanners a iming to miti gate the risks of indoor overh e ating in vulnerable populat ions. Methodology This se ct ion outl ines t h e approach t o a ssess i ndoor overheating i n residential building. We use a physics-based model ing system (EnergyPlus) to examine the effects of different air condi ti oning usage levels, climate conditions, and building chara cteristics. The steps below explain t he m ethodolo gy presented in a flowch art in F i gure 1. Figure 1. Propos ed Flowchart of Research Methodology 1. Database Selection The first s tep involves ch oosi ng the appropriate database for acquiring input data on building prototypes and en ergy use. The fo l lowing databases w e re utilized: COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 132 a) REC S (Resid ential E nergy Consumption Survey): The RECS is administered by the U.S. Energy I nformation Administration ( EIA) to a na t ionally representative sample of occupied housing un it s and contains hund r eds of hous ing charac teristic variables. b) DO E (Department of Energy): Of fers standardize d residen tial building p rototypes, capturing typi cal U.S. housing types. c) ResStock: Contain s h igh-resolution r esidential building stock da ta, stratified by location and building char acteristics. 2. Input Variabl es The EnergyPlus building model was c onfigured wit h input variabl es b ase d on data from the selected da tabases. These var iables define t he characteristics of t he build ings a nd environmental conditions i n the s imulation. a) Typical and Extreme Weather: We used the Typ ical Meteorologi cal Year (TMY) files to simulate the building energy modeling in EnergyPlus software. A TMY file is e ssentially a compilation of representative weather data that characterizes the ty pica l climate c ondi tions for a spec ific location. These data sets are deri ved from historical weather data collected over a multi -year per iod, usually spanning at lea st 30 years. The goal of a TMY dataset is to prov ide a single yea r of we ather data that is m ost rep resentative o f long-te rm averag es, without extreme events, to supp ort rel iable s imulations for ene rgy and therm al perfor m anc e studies. TMY files a re typically sourced from publicly avai lable databases maintained by national meteorological or energ y agencies. In the Un ited States, for i nstance, TMY datasets are produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL ) in collaborati on with the U.S. Department of Energy. These datasets are based on long-term weather records c ol lected from we ather stations around th e country. T he TM Y3 version, o ne of the most co mmonly used datasets, uses data fr om 1991 to 2005 and provides information on va riables s uch a s temperature, solar ra diatio n, humidity, wind speed, and direct i on for eac h hour of t he ty pica l year (Wilcox, 2008). These files are c rucial for building energy mo d eling because the y offer a rea li stic basis for simulating t he perfor mance of buildings under normal w eather conditions, wit hout the distortion that might occur f rom i nclud ing years with extreme weather anomal ie s (Crawley et al., 2001). How ever, while TMY files are valuable f or long-term performance e valuations, they may no t always capture the effe cts of i n creasingly f requent extreme weather e vent s due to climate c hange, whic h c ould affect building performanc e i n unexpe cted ways . In Table 1, the climate zones and representat ive cities for each of those climate zones as considered in this study are presented. Table 1: Climate Zones an d Representative Cities REC Cli mate Cl assification Repre sentativ e Climate Zone Representativ e Cities Mixed-humid Climate Zone 4A New York Hot-dry Climate Zone 2B Texas, El Paso Hot-hum id Climate Zone 1A Mi ami, Florida To simulate the impact of an extre me heat wave on indoor thermal conditions, we modified the TMY weather da ta for t he hot dry climate zone. A two-week period in July (1 st to 14 th ) was selected to represent the heat wave scenario. The dry bulb temperatures for t his per iod wer e COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 133 increased by a fixed value of + 5°C, elevating peak outdoor temperatures to approxim ately 40°C. To mai ntain psychrometric consistency and accurately r eflect the associated humidity leve ls, the Element software (Big-Ladder-So ftware) was utilized. The adjusted dry bulb temperatures were input into t he software, whic h automatically recalculated othe r corresponding variables like wet-bulb temper ature, de w-point temperature, re lative hu mi dity , atmospher ic pressure, density, enthalpy, and others, which share a relationship thr ough the physics of psychrometry . This p rocess ensured that the sc enario remaine d within realistic ranges for E l Paso's climate during a heat wave. b) Building Types: We ran the model using the DOE’ s reference building for s i ngle-family detached homes, va rying some regional-specific c haracteri stics across climate zones. Figure 2 presents the building model. Figure 2. Proto type of a Single Family D e tached Resid e ntial Building. c) Climate Zones: Three U.S. climate zones selected a re hot-humid, hot-dry, and mixed-hum id climate zones. d) Roof and Wall Materi als: Bui lding i nsulation and material types, which vary by climate zone and represented by th e insulation levels of the materi als used. e) Buil d ing Size: Captures the average size of a single f amily US home. f) Year of Construction: I nfluences insulation quali ty, e nergy pe rforman ce, and HVAC s ystem efficiency. All models a dopted t he 2009 Internat ional Energy Conservation Code for t his simulation. Full details of these input variables are sum marized in table 2. Table 2: Details of the Building Characterist ics of Single-Family Residential Building Proto types Stratified Across U.S. C limate Zones. HOUSING PROTOTYPE MIXED H U MID (CZ4A) HOT DRY (CZ2B) HOT HUMID (CZ1A) Size 2377.10 sq ft 2377.10 sq ft 2377.10 sq ft Wall Insulation U - 0.087 U - 0.087 U - 0.06 Roof Insulation ( Gable End) U-0.314 U-0.314 U-0 .314 Exterior Roof Ins ulation U-0.543 U-0.543 U-0.543 COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 134 Heating, Ventilation and Air Condition ing Systems Central AC (25,5 22 Btu/h), Gas Furnace (38,564 Btu /h) Central AC (15,421 Btu/h), Gas Furnace (18,264 Btu /h) Central AC ( 5,811 Btu/h), Ga s Furnace (13,364 Btu /h) 3. EnergyPlus Configu ration EnergyPlus, developed by the U.S. Departme nt of Energy, is a validated simulation to ol used to model the e nerg y performance of residential buildings under varying climate conditions. The program allows for detailed m odeling of heat transfer, HVAC ope ration, and indoor e nvironment al conditions. One of its main stre ngths is the ability to model complex energy i nteractions in buil dings, offering hi gh precision i n e valuating how different fa ctors influe n ce energy consump tion and t hermal comfort. However, a notable weakn e ss is the complexity of input requirements, wh i ch can make the modeli ng process time-intensive and challenging for users with out specialized know l edge. Additionally, while EnergyPlus excels in simulating b uildi n g energy performance, it requires accurate data input s to provide reliable resul ts, whi ch can be a limitat ion when precise da ta is unavailable. 4. Scaling HVAC Cap acities HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditionin g) systems were m odeled at three differen t capacities to simulate varying le vels of cooling. These scena rios help assess the im pact of cooling availability on indoor thermal comfort and heat stress l evels: a) 100% AC Usage: Repr esents f ull air condit ioning o per ation, as found in energ y-efficient homes with centralized coo ling systems. b) 50% AC Usage: Represents partial air conditioning usage, simulating energy-saving me asure s or limitations in coo ling. c) 0% AC Usage: Represents no air conditioning, which may be typical in homes without HVAC systems or during p ower ou tages. Results and Discus sions 1. Impact of AC Usage on Indoor Ther mal Condi tions: Summ er Months Analysis. Figure 3 presents an overview o f indoor th erma l pe rf orm ance over the summer months (July 1 to September 30) in a hot-dry climate, r epresent ed by the c ity of El paso, Te xas, under three a ir conditioning (AC) scen arios: 100%, 5 0% , an d 0% AC usage. The figure comp a res outdoor temperatures with indoo r temperatures under differen t AC operation levels, whil e Figures 3a, 3b, and 3c offer a closer look at the indoor t her m al response during a singl e representative week (July 28 to August 6), wh i ch also repre sents the warmest week on the chart. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 135 Figure 3 Indoor t her m al response to outdoor temperature and AC usage in the hot humid clim ate zone (July 1-September 30) In Figure 3 a bove, th e th erma l pe rform ance of the building a cross t he entire summer is highlighted in relation to three differe nt AC scena rios: a) 100% AC (Red Line ): I ndoor t emperature s remain st able around 25°C despit e outdoor temperatures fluctuating be tween 22°C at night a nd 3 6°C durin g the d ay. Fu ll AC operation results i n indoor temperatures being about 11°C l ower th an outdoo r pea k s, which represents a 30% r eduction. The system provides cons istent and effec tive cooling througho ut the summer, maintaining thermal comfort for occup ants during ex t reme outdoor heat . b) 50% A C ( Brow n Line): With half AC capacity, indo or tem peratures fluctuate more widely, ranging from 24°C at night to 30-32°C during the day. While the AC r educes indoor temperatures by 4-6°C, representing a 11-16% reduction, indoor temperatures st ill re ach uncomfortable l evels of a ro und 33°C during pea k heat. This suggests t hat h alf AC capacity is 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 C 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 C 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 C 2 2 2 4 2 6 2 8 3 0 3 2 3 4 C Jul01 Aug01 Sep01 Oct01 Outdoor Air Drybul b Tem perature Zone Opera t ive Temperatu re - 100 % Cap. Zone Opera t ive Temperatu re - 50% Cap. Zone Opera t ive Temperatu re - 0% Cap. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 136 insufficient for maintaining optimal thermal c omfort during periods of extreme outdoor temperatures. c) 0% AC (Purple Line): In th e no-AC scenario, indoo r temper atures closely follow outdoor temperatures, wi th minimal difference (less t han 1°C). Indoor temper atures peak at 36°C, posing a significant risk to oc cupan t health during pr olonged heat events. The building provides little protection from e xternal heat, underscoring t he dangers of r elying on pass ive strategies in a hot-d ry climate. 2. Impact of AC Usage on Indoor Therma l Cond itions: A Focus on the Warmest We ek of the Summer. While Figure 3 provides an overview of th e entire summer period, Figures 4a, 4b, and 4c foc us on a specific week, offering more detailed insights into the i mpact o f different A C scenarios on i n door temperatures. This allows for a better understand ing of how the building respond s to vary ing outdoor conditions ov er shor t -term heat events. Figure 4a de monst rates the e ffectiveness of 100% AC usa ge. Despite outdoor temperatures f luctuatin g between 24°C and 35°C through the night a nd da y, indoor tempera tures remain st able between 24°C and 28° C a t pea k hou rs. The c onsist ent 7°C r eduction in indoor temperatures, r epre sentin g a 20% decrease, shows the system’s a bility to maintain comfortable indoor environment s eve n during periods of ext reme outdoor heat. Full AC operation is clearly effective in ensuring that occupan ts are protected from heat-related st r ess during the s umm er month s. Figure 4a. 100% AC usage (30th July – 6 t h August) In Figure 4b, indoor te mperatures fluctuate more when t he AC operates at 50% capacity. Indoor temperatures range betwe en 24°C a t night and 30-33° C dur ing the hottest par ts of th e day. While t his scenario provides a 3-5°C r eduction in indoor tem peratures compared to outdoor conditions, representing a 6-14% reduction, the indoor environment still becomes uncomfort able during the hottest parts of the day. This result highligh t s the c hal lenges of ma intaining thermal comfor t when AC systems are only p a rtially opera tional during the war mest t ime of the summer mo nt hs in the region. 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 C Jul30 Jul31 Aug 0 1 Aug02 Aug03 Aug04 Aug05 Aug06 Outdoor Air Dr ybulb Tempe rature Zone Operative Tempera ture - 100% Cap. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 239 (ºC) Humidity(%) 0.08719 - 0.10746 0.01974 - 0.00181 0.06360 0.01405 Note. Condi tioned on variables: Roo m Type. * p < .05 Timeframe 03: In stantaneo us Experience Perc eption When examining the instantaneous correlations— those based on t he condition s at th e exac t m oment the survey was c ompleted—mo st of the c orrelations observed in the other time f rames disappear. The only correlation between indoor temperature a nd general perceived com fort is negative. Similar ly, temperature remains t he onl y c orr elated parameter in t he overa ll perceptio n ave rage (ne g ative correlation). This sugges ts that, in the imm ediate term, the te mperature is the most pe rceptible an d impactful f actor on comfort, overshadow ing other environmental varia bles like CO 2 and tVOC. T he disappearance of other correlations at thi s time scale indi cates that occupants’ immediate perceptions may not fully reflect the IAQ conditions or that their imme diate comfort is primari ly i nfluenced by temperature. Table 3 p resents the fu ll correlations. Table 20. Spea rman’s Partial Corre lati ons) Ins tantaneous Expe rience Perception Perc. Temp Prc. Vent Perc. Air Mv. cleanliness Comfort Average Perception tVOC(ppm) - 0.16374 0.01103 - 0.20050 0.05462 - 0.16010 - 0.16749 PM2.5(µg/m.) 0.05364 0.08412 0.03969 - 0.00241 0.09210 0.08437 CO2(ppm) - 0.08588 - 0.11853 - 0.23629 - 0.08785 - 0.17282 - 0.23230 Temperature (ºC) -0.10395 -0.15355 -0.23099 -0.19686 - 0.25976* -0.30068* Humidity(%) - 0.12074 - 0.14451 - 0.21058 0.13042 - 0.07266 - 0.16201 Note. Condi tioned on variables: Roo m Type. * p < .05 Discussion The data analysis – via statisti cal correlat ion of data points across the three timeframes– reveals a limited correlation between occupants’ percep t ions and the a ctual IAQ m easur ements, confirming the research hypothesis. The findings sugges t that these variables play distinct roles depe nding on whethe r the perception is b ased on short-ter m, medium-ter m, or long-term exp eriences. Certain IAQ factors li ke pollutant le vels (CO 2 a n d tVOC) consistently i nfluence occupant perceptions. However, thei r impacts vary depending on t he a ssessment period. For example, CO 2 levels are significant in sh aping medium-term per ceptions (e.g., 1 w e ek time frame), and ar e specifically relevan t in shaping the per ception of air m ovement and overall c omfor t. This could r eflect a gr ow i ng awareness of indoor air quality among occupants as they spend more time in the e nvi ronment, emphasizing the ne ed for adequa te vent ilation strategies to flush out excess CO 2 accumulation. The positive c orr elation between tVOC and heightened perception of c leanliness m ay be a ttribu ted to strong-smelled clea n i ng detergents. TVOCs a re particularly i nfl uential in medium - and long-term perceptions of clea nliness. This m ay be linked to odor s asso ciated with air fr esheners, cleani ng products, or other sources, suggesting that these com pounds play a significant role in shaping ho w clean the indoor envi ronment is perceived. As s ociating certain smells – w i th high tV OC emissions – to the perception of cleanlines s is one speculative ev idence suggest ing that o ccupants’ percep ti on s urveys cannot be taken literally. While this ne eds further investigation, the l ink between c leaning products ’ smells a nd a sense of cleanliness could highl ight cul tura l biases and misunderstandings related to space cleaning. On the other hand, i ndoor temperature remains a highly susceptible va riable. Temperature does not align w it h perceived t emperature acros s the time sca les—w hether instantaneous, r ecent, or prolonged. This calls f or further in vestigation to und er stand how t o e nsure co mfort an d satisfaction a mong students in light of perceived temperature. Howeve r, it is relevant t o no te that out doo r temperature does not impact th e perceived t emperat ure i ndoors or th e pe rception o f th e a dequateness of the learning space. COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 240 Alternatively, humidit y appears to have a l ess significant impact on perceptions. It mi ght be th e c ase , however, that the surv ey location, Cairo, being hot-arid, r esults i n a limited e ffect of humidity and little understanding of the effects of moisture on co mfort by the occupants. One note wo rthy insig ht, which is related to t he h igh per centage of f emale s tudents in a particular classroom, opens up questions about gender differences in perce iving t he ade quacy of indoor environments (Fabozzi & Dama, 2020; Hoque & Weil, 2016; Indraganti & Humphreys, 2021). Significant ge nder difference emerges in the a ir m ovemen t perception, with females ge nerally perceiving it a s less adeq uate. Som e studies point out the differe n ces in pe rception of in doo r conditions of gende r due to physiological considerati ons of the human body and genetic tr aits. The analysis r evea l s that students who identify as f emales are more sensiti ve to environmental changes. The particular cultura l c ondit ions may be a variab le at play. Many female st uden ts (>50%) a re veiled students, wearing headsca rves and long slee ves; thus, t his may lower their sensitivity to air movement, for example. Additi onal ly, i ndividuals who have prev iously experien ce d heat stress tend to sense air movement a s less satisfactory. These findings underscore the i mportance of considering both the short-term and l ong-term IAQ conditions when assessing and managing indoor air quality in educational settings. Conclusion The pa per studied t he correlation between occupa nt pe r ception and in door air quality parameters over different time frames, namely long-term (from the start of the semester to the point a t wh ich t h e occupant comp leted the surve y ), recent e xperienc e (1 week before completing th e survey), and instantaneous experienc e (wit hin the 15 min before completing the survey). The results highlight shi fts in how long, s hort, and instantan eous conditions r el ate t o occupa nts’ percepti on, hinting at a new challenge in in d oor air comfort analysis. As seen i n Table 4, long, medium, a nd short-t erm temperature conditions r emain vital to indoor environmental qua lity perception. The perception o f indoor comfort, ventilation, and air mo vement appear to be a ssoc iated by the CO2 concentration in the medium-term experiences, and tVOCs appea r to be relevant i n l ong- and mediu m-te rm exp eriences. On the other hand, the pe rception of comfort see med l ess a ssociated with humidity conditions in the spaces tested in Ca i ro. Table 21. Changes to the cor relat ion betwe en th e per ception of occupan ts and indoor air quality metrics based on t he differe nt time frames studies in thi s paper Perc. Temp Prc. Vent Perc. Air Mv. Cleanliness Comf ort Average Perception All Past Conditions (start of the semester) Temp. (-) Temp. (-) TVOC s (+) CO2 (-) Temp. (-) Temp. (-) CO2 (-) Recent Conditions (1 week before) Temp. (-) Temp. (-) CO2 ( - ) TVOC s (+) CO2 ( - ) CO2 (-) Temp. (-) CO2 ( - ) Instantaneous Conditions (15 minutes before) Temp. (-) Temp. (-) One of the main ta keaw ays is that the perception of occupants of th e indoor conditions of spaces, such as classroo ms, is not dire ct and pr edictab le but is affected by and could even change base d on the ti me they experience a specific space. A lso, t he differen t indoor air quality para meters’ roles in shap ing thi s perception a re not static but could change depending on the timeframe of the analysis. The i ndoor a ir quality pa rameters at d ifferent timescales could affect oc cupants’ perce ption of indoor qu ality. M ore importantly, pe rcepti on does not re flect inst ant measurements but r ather th e a ccumu la tive e xper ience within a space. The mixed-m eth od approach is often best to underst and t he root c ause of probl ems regarding perceived oc cupants’ comfort. Buil ding on the findings of this study, seve ral avenues for future research could deepen our un derstanding of the relationsh ip between indoor air qu a lity (IAQ) and its impac t on lea rning and overal l well-being in educat ional settings: COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 241  Exploring additional metrics beyond t raditional air qualit y measurements to ass ess IAQ’s influence on learning outcomes. These might in clude cognitive performance tests, attendance records, or physiological indicators such as heart rate variability and stress hormone levels. By integrating these metrics, researchers could bet ter understan d how IA Q affects mental and physical student perfo rmance.  Examining how dif ferent arc hitectura l desi gns, types of ventilation systems, and occupant behavior patterns contribute to IA Q va riations. For example, comparing natura lly venti lated versus mechanically ventilated classrooms, or analysing the impact of occup ant density a nd movement patterns on air quality, c ould yield valuable insi ghts for imp roving i ndoor environments.  Undertaking lo ngitudinal diagnosis to track t he effects of IAQ inte rventions over an academic year or multiple academ ic ye ars, assessing cha nges in he alth outcomes, student enga gement, and learning achievements. Addit ionally, th e re search could explore how instituti onal policies prioritizing IA Q create healthier, more produc t ive learn ing environments. Acknowledgmen t s The authors wou ld like to thank the D epartment of A rchitecture a t the Sch ool of Sciences an d Engineering, the Graduate Stu dent Support Office f or f unding this work, and the Engaged Sustainable Futures Team of researchers who supported the data collection f or this work. The a uthors would also like t o recognize t he support the Associate Provost for Research, innovation, and Cre ativity (APRIC ) office provid es to support the t rave l t o t he CATE2 4 c onference. T his research was approv e d by the AUC I ns tit utional R eview B oard (Case # 2022-2023-0 10) References Andargie, M. S., Touchie, M., & O ’ Brien, W. (201 9). A r eview of factors affecting oc cupant c omfo rt in multi-unit residential buildings. 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Procedia Environm ental Scienc es , 34 , 631–640. h tt ps://doi.org /10.1016/ j.proenv.2 016.04.055 COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 243 The Cool Do wn C oach – An o cc upant oriented beh avioural coach for effective ventilative cooling and solar shading 1 Koene, F.G.H., 1 de V ries, S.B ., 2 Mesdaghi, B., 3 Brue l, D.M.M., 2 Koog e r, R., 1 Jacobs, P., 1 Vi jlbrief, O., 1 *Spiekman, M. *lead presenter 1 m [email protected] , T NO, B uildings and Energy Systems, T he Netherlands 1 TNO, B uildings and Energy Syst ems, The N etherlands 2 TNO Energy Trans ition Studies, The Net herlands, 3 TNO S usta inable P r oductivity & Emp loyability, The N etherlands Abstract Due to climate change D utch homes a re increasingly suffering from overhe ating , whic h can lead to discomfort and sleeping problems that are de trimental for r esiden t’s health and wellbeing. Overh ea tin g can also lead to i ncreased use of e n er gy consuming air- conditioning devices. In mild oceanic climates overheating ca n largely be prevented t hrough passive measures li ke so lar shading and ventilative cooling. Pr evious research has shown, however, that residents do not always o perate windows and shading devices e ffe ctively, sometimes opening windows at mi dday allowing warm air t o enter or keeping windows closed at nigh t preventing th e home f rom cooling down wi th cool out side air. This pa per presents t he r esults of a study aimed at the development a nd testing of a Cool Down Coac h (CDC). Th e CDC is an internet-of-things enabled device that supports re sidents in ke eping their home cool thr ough effective use of venti lati ve cooling and solar shading. The CDC uses locally measured indoor and ambient tempe rat ure s, weather forecasts, a nd a user-interface, sho wn on a display and mobile phone. A prototype of the CDC was tested i n se ven homes in the Netherlands and from six of them, data and user feedback wer e obtained. Most re sidents reported t h at t hey found the CDC useful and accurate, making them mo re aw are of their be havi our . The m easurem ents provided useful insights to the tenants abou t their actual behaviour. Ho wever, mon i toring showed that the advice from th e CDC was not alw ays followed. Reported reasons include fear of raining in and nuisance of insects (during daytime) and fear of bu rglary, nuisance of insects and outside noise (mostly during nighttime). I t appeared t hat chang ing e st ablished behaviou r s re m ai ns a challenge, e ven wi th ai d of t he CDC. In conclusion, the CDC i s a valuable t ool for s timulating optim al coo ling behaviour a nd providing insights, but it canno t , by itself, fully reso l ve overhea ting issues. Keywords Digital behaviou ral coach, advice, vent ilative cooling, solar sh ading, indoo r overheating Introduct ion Heatwaves and prolonged excess heat are increasing i n frequency, dura tion, and magnitude due to climate change (World Health Or ganization 2024; KNMI 2015) . Residents are i ncreasingly suffering from indoor overheating, which can lead t o discomfor t a nd sle epin g problems that ar e detrimental f or their health and wellbeing (Kenny et al. 2024). Indoor overheating also leads t o increased use of energy consuming air-conditioning unit s. In mild oc eanic climates, indoor over heat ing c an be managed through passive measures l ike solar shading a nd ventilative c ooling (van Hooff et al. 2014) . Previous research has shown, however, that residents do not a lways ope rate windows and shading devices effectively (Schiela and Sc hünemann 2021; Schünema nn, Sc hiela, and Ortlepp 2021). For example, they may open windows during the day (wh en i t is hot outside) because a br eeze feels cool, but this cooling effect is mainly due to e vaporation on the skin. Or t hey may l eave the windows close d at night, when the eff ect of ve ntilative c oo ling is muc h greater tha n during the day (i.e.: l ower a mbien t temperatures a t night). This may apply even mor e t o well -in sulated homes beca use t hey do not cool down quickly once they have heated up ( van Hoo ff et al. 2014). In order to assist r esidents in when to COMFORT AT THE EXT REMES INVESTING IN WELL- BEING IN A CHALLENGING FUTURE 244 open or close windows a nd when to operate solar shad ing, we developed a digital assistant called the Cooldown Coa ch (CDC). Approach We star ted by conducting i nterviews with potential f ut ure use rs of a CDC to understand t heir nee d s and pre feren ces. Participants were recruite d through the housing ass ociation Woonstad, in Rotterdam. Based on the i nterview findings, a prototype of the C DC was de velop ed. Th e C DC uses sensors like indoor and ambient temperature and c on tact sensors that indicate if windows are opened o r closed. The CDC was subsequent ly tested in a pilot consisting of t he home s of seven t enants f rom housin g associations Woonstad in Rotterdam and De Allianti e in Amsterdam. In order to evaluate the CDC , sensor data were collected and ana lysed. The analysis was enhanced w ith th e results of exit inte rviews, where tenants were asked a bout t hei r experience with th e CDC and re asons for (not ) complying with its advice. Results interviews wit h r esidents abou t their need s and preferen ces Tenants we re recruited t hrough the Woonstad Meedenkers (‘ Th ink along’) pa ne l . This panel cons ists of approx. 900 residents that can be consulted in relation to tenants’ issues. Woons ta d inquired whether tenan ts in the panel would be interested in par ti cipating in the in te rviews. Residents were selected based on their experience with overheat ing, resulti n g in 13 tenants be ing interviewed in May 2024. The interviews, lasting one hour, to ok place a t the ma in office of Woonstad. Topics i nclud ed t he te nants ’ expe riences wi th i ndoor o ve rheating, measures they took to avoid it, and their needs of and p r eferences on mitigation me asures. Tenants r eported that they m easured temperatures of over 30⁰C in their be droo m or li ving room, even at moderate a mb ient temperatures. Most tenants attributed overheating to solar irradiation passing through the windows. They also indicated that they wer e awa re of the i mportance of vent ila ting the home, but they also reported barriers to opening their windows at ni gh t for fe ar of burglary, outside noise or i nsects. None of the homes had a ny outdoo r solar shading. When asked a bout mea sures they took to prevent overheatin g, tenants reported mounting impr ovised aluminium foil or a piece of cloth on t he windows, using a f an and small air-conditio ning units , mostly t o little avail. Most tenants wer e keen t o have an air-conditioning unit or ou tdoor solar shading, but according to te nants, the housin g association c ould not or would not provide t hese and also did not a llow tenants to install outd oor shading. Additionally, tena nt s did not want to invest in solar shad ing themselves for a property they do not own. Tenants were a lso asked what they thoug ht of the idea of a CDC. They were gene r ally enthusiast ic, bu t at th e same time doubted whether it could solve all of their overheating problems. Researchers showed some examples of what the interf ace of the CDC c ould look like. The majority of th e tenants pref err ed a simple layout with icons and colou rs to indicate t he i ndoo r temper ature relative to t he outdoo r temperature to immediately know what action t o t ake. All tenan ts expressed t hat having the display available on their phones would b e a positive additio n. Finally, tenants were also asked whether they would be interes ted in testing a proto t ype of the CDC. Development of the CDC Based on the interview findings, a pro totype of the CDC was developed. The ma in elements of the CDC are the algor ithm producing the adv ice and the i nterface. Algorithm The CDC’s a dvice is produced by a relatively si mple algorithm. M ore sophisticated f eatures a re available (see ‘ Future work’) but these were not implemented in the pilot . The advice to open or c lose windows is based on the average of living room temperature a nd be droo m temperature and a pplies to all w indows in the hom e. The CDC advise is based on the l ogic described in Table 22. The CDC a dvises to ope n windows in order to cool the home when: (1) it is warm inside, i.e. when the i ndoor temperature exceeds a threshold that is determined using a fixed ‘comfort temperature’ of 21°C and a 1.5 ⁰ C offset above this temperature, a nd (2) i t is s ufficiently cool outsi de (ambient t emperatu re more than 1 ⁰C below the indoor temperature). The CDC als o a dvises t o open windows to heat up the home when 1) it is c oo l [Document text truncated for crawler view.]