Indoor thermal resilience in a changing climate

Research Project, 2024 – 2026

The observed increase in the global average temperature, the likelihood of more frequent and longer heat wave events and urban heat island effects have raised concerns about increased indoor temperatures, especially in buildings without mechanical cooling such as homes. Overheating has therefore become one of the major challenges in the built environment and thermal resilience a central feature of the UN Sustainability Development Goals. But what is the extent of overheating occurrence in Swedish multifamily buildings and how could it develop in a changing climate? How hot is too hot in Sweden and countries with similar context? How do dwellings respond to different- in terms of magnitude and duration- periods of overheating? How do building, dwelling and occupant characteristics and behaviour influence human thermal resilience? These are the questions this project aims to address, and through them develop a comprehensive method for the evaluation of dwelling-level, occupant-centric thermal resilience. This will be achieved by combining analysis of a unique, extensive dataset of indoor and outdoor temperature measurements in approx. 43500 dwellings in multi-family buildings from approx. 8 years of monitoring and dwelling-level surveys with occupants in a selected subsample. The project combines expertise in building science, thermal comfort and human behaviour and psychology in order to capture the relevant factors influencing human thermal resilience at home.