Evaluation of active mitigation measures in improving residential district cooling resilience

The intensification of global climate change has significantly increased the frequency and intensity of heatwave events, imposing higher demands on residential electricity consumption. According to the IPCC report, global warming will lead to more frequent extreme high-temperature events in the coming decades.

This study aims to evaluate the impact of resilience enhancement measures implemented at the design stage of building HVAC systems on reducing the electrical load in residential areas during heatwaves. The research is conducted in a climate zone in China, focusing on the electricity demand of a residential district for cooling season in one future climate change scenario.

By constructing physical building models, typical occupant behavior models and their distribution, and HVAC equipment models, we simulate various enhancement measures. These active measures mainly revolve around the optimization of HVAC systems, such as improving the COP (Coefficient of Performance) distribution and replacing conventional systems with ground source heat pumps, etc. By comparing the impact of different measures on total and peak electricity consumption during heatwaves, the study evaluates their effectiveness in mitigating the increase in cooling electricity energy consumption.

The expected results indicate that these resilience enhancement measures can significantly reduce electricity demand during heatwaves and improve the adaptability of residential areas to extreme weather events.