A novel quantitative method of heatwave classification for building resilience analysis

Abstract

More frequent and extreme heatwaves result in an increased risk of overheating in residential buildings. The utilization of heatwave weather files is fundamental in evaluating the thermal resilience of buildings. However, limited studies have focused on quantitative classification methods that consider multiple heatwave characteristics and how buildings respond to different heatwave types. Therefore, this study aims to propose a quantitative method for classifying heatwaves by considering the duration and intensity, while also providing the thresholds for duration and intensity to identify different types of heatwaves. Subsequently, the impacts of different types of heatwaves on indoor overheating was quantified and compared through simulation of indoor thermal environment in three prototype residential buildings in China. The indoor overheating risk was then evaluated based on the indoor overheating degree. The results revealed four types of heatwaves: short and moderate, short and intense, long and moderate, and long and intense. The short and moderate heatwaves represented the majority. While the long and intense heatwaves had the highest influence on indoor overheating risks. Hence, these two types of heatwaves are suggested to be considered in building resilience analysis. The proposed method demonstrated its effectiveness in classifying heatwaves based on the impact on indoor environments.