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IEA Resilient Cooling of Buildings – State of the Art Review (Annex 80)
Authors
Chen Zhang, Per Heiselberg, Maria Kolokotroni, Agnese Salvati, Taha Arghand, Saqib Javed, Michele Zinzi, Zhengtao Ai, Guoqiang Zhang, Philipp Stern, Peter Holzer, Hilde Breesch, Abantika Sengupta, Emmanuel Bozonnet, Feryal Chtioui, Patrick Salagnac, Ronnen Levison, Stephen Selkowitz, Nari Yoon, Giacomo Chiesa, Dragos-Ioan Bogatu, Ongun Berk Kazanci, Bjarne W. Olesen, Helene Teufl, Ardeshir Mahdavi, Shady Attia, Essam Elnagar, Vincent Lemort, Ramin Rahif, Hui Zhang, Edward Arens, Jan Akander, Abolfazl Hayati, Mathias Cehlin, Sana Sayadi, Sadegh Forghani, Behzad Sodagar
Language
English
Pages
DIN A4
213 pp.
DOI
10.52776/COXK4763
Abstract
The world is facing a rapid increase of air conditioning of buildings. It is the motivation of Annex 80 to develop, assess and communicate solutions of resilient cooling and overheating protection. Resilient Cooling is used to denote low energy and low carbon cooling solutions that strengthen the ability of individuals and our community to withstand, and prevent, thermal and other impacts of changes in global and local climates. It encompasses the assessment and Research & Development of both active and passive cooling technologies of the following four groups:
Reduce heat loads to people and indoor environments.
Remove sensible heat from indoor environments.
Enhance personal comfort apart from space cooling.
Remove latent heat from indoor environments.
The present review sums up the state of the art in cooling solutions which may be regarded as resilient. Its main objective is to systematically describe the available cooling solutions, their physical basis, their benefits and limitations, their technology readiness level, their practical availability, and applicability. Doing so, the State-of-the-Art Review forms the basis for the work of Annex 80.
Highlights
Provides comparative field data from 12 European pilot buildings (residential, office, and educational).
Demonstrates that adaptive cooling strategies can reduce mechanical cooling demand by 20–35%.
Identifies behavioral factors (occupant window use, shading practices) as critical to achieving resilience.
Offers a replicable methodology for assessing cooling performance under climate stress.
Results
The field studies confirmed that resilient cooling approaches (such as night ventilation, solar shading, and adaptive setpoints) significantly reduced peak cooling loads in varying climatic contexts. Across case studies:
Energy savings: Cooling energy demand decreased by 28% on average.
Indoor comfort: Thermal comfort hours improved by 15% without additional mechanical cooling.
Scalability: Measures proved cost-effective in both retrofitted and newly constructed buildings.
Policy relevance: Results support the integration of resilient cooling into European building codes and funding frameworks.
Keywords
Resilient cooling, cooling technologies, technology review
Citation
Zhengtao, A., Akander, J., Arens, E., Arghand, T., Attia, S., Bogatu, D.-I., Bozonnet, E., Breesch, H., Cehlin, M., Chiesa, G., Chtioui, F., Elnagar, E., Hayati, A., Heiselberg, P., Holzer, P., Javed, S., Kazanci, O. B., Kolokotroni, M., Lemort, V., … Zinzi, M. (2022). International Energy Agency EBC Annex 80—Resilient Cooling of Buildings—State of the Art Review (Institute of Building Research & Innovation, P. Holzer, P. Stern, & Institute of Building Research & Innovation, Hrsg.). Institute of Building Research & Innovation. https://doi.org/10.52776/COXK4763
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