Framework to evaluate the resilience of different cooling technologies

As part of the EBC Annex 80 - Resilient cooling of buildings activities, the Thermal Condition Taskforce was created, in April 2020. In coordination with all other groups and the Weather Data Taskforce, two objectives were set. Firstly, to define common thermal conditions to assess different cooling technologies. Secondly, define a standard benchmark that can allow comparing the different cooling technologies worldwide. The taskforce succeeded to identify common comfort criteria based on an existing overheating calculation method. Also, reference simulation models for benchmarking were identified. This report presents the outcome of the Thermal Condition Taskforce in the form of a methodological framework that can allow performing a comparative evaluation of cooling technologies. The framework is meant to provide a consistent and structured approach to evaluate and relatively compare different cooling technologies on the building scale, taking into account comfort and not only energy efficiency. Therefore, the framework was designed and tested in line with the Weather Data taskforce choice of sixteen cities worldwide and involving IPCC climate change scenarios. The framework is flexible and open, allowing building simulation modellers to run comparative simulations in different climates and evaluating the Technologies investigated by the Annex.