overheating

Regional climate change in cities is the most documented phenomenon of climate change . Higher urban temperatures are  documented experimentally for more than 450 major cities in the world. Numerous investigations demonstrate that the mean magnitude of the temperature increase may exceed 4-6 C, while at the peak it may exceed  10 C. The serious increase of the frequency and the strength of heat waves creates strong synergies between the global and regional climate change and intensify the magnitude of the overheating 

Advancing energy efficient renovation solutions in buildings necessitate adopting high-insulation and airtightness to avoid heat loss through transmission and infiltration, which can result in overheating. Elevated indoor temperatures have a highly negative effect on building occupants’ health, wellbeing and productivity. With the possibility of remote working, people spend more time at home, and therefore addressing the elevated indoor temperatures and the overheating risks in residential buildings proves to be essential.

Major and deep energy renovations of single-family houses (more than 60% of the building stock) are expected in Europe over the next several years (Psomas et al., 2016a). A number of research projects have documented and verified overheating risk during the design and operation phase in nearly zero energy or existing renovated single-family houses without mechanical cooling systems in temperate climates. Post occupancy surveys and comfort studies have also monitored high indoor temperatures over 27oC and 28oC even in Northern countries (Psomas et al., 2016a).

Overheating in domestic homes, specifically in built up urban areas, has become a pressing problem throughout the UK. It is likely to become a costly energy problem in years to come if passive design strategies are not fully understood and integrated. This research looks to investigate how internal and external solar shading systems impact on operative temperatures when differing blinds together with a night time natural ventilation strategy are adopted within a renovated block of flats in North London.

According to the 2016 Household Projections report, England’s housing stock could reach 28 million households by 2039 with approximately one fifth being new constructions. A significant proportion of these newly built dwellings may face a high risk of overheating as a result of the combined effects of climate change and more stringent building thermal efficiency standards, if not appropriately designed.

Where residential developments rely on opening windows to control overheating, there can be a compromise between allowing excessive noise ingress with windows open, or excessive temperatures with windows closed. This problem is exacerbated by the move towards better insulated, more airtight buildings and the need, particularly in urban areas, to consider development on noisier sites. A working group has been formed by the Association of Noise Consultants to provide guidance on acoustic conditions and design when considering both the provision of ventilation and prevention of overheating.

In response to the European Energy Performance Buildings Directive 2010/31/EU and the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012/27/EU, buildings have increasingly become more insulated in order to reduce the heating losses to a minimum. However, this could also lead to the problem of indoor high temperatures during warm and transition seasons. Furthermore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns about increases in temperature of more than 4 ºC by the end of the century.