Full Description

The resilience of thermal energy systems is especially important for extreme climates such as arctic or hot and humid environments. While metrics and requirements for availability, reliability, and quality of power systems have been established (DoD 2020), similar metrics and requirements for thermal energy systems are not well understood. The first attempt to address this deficiency was described in a paper that described temperature decay in buildings located in a cold climate when heat supply to the building has been interrupted (Liesen et al. 2021). This paper addresses cooling energy supply interruption to the building located in hot and humid climates. Results of modeling analysis are presented for three mass and light building archetypes: Concrete (concrete masonry unit [CMU], cast-in-place, Insulated Concrete Form [ICF], precast), steel-framed with infill steel stud walls, and pre-engineered metal buildings, all built following energy requirements of ASHRAE Standard 1980 and ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (2013 and 2019), and located in U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) climate zones 0a, 1a, 2a, and 3a. Establishing a reliable building model allows us to predict the maximum time available to repair the cooling energy supply system before the building needs to be evacuated, when damage is done to equipment or facilities critical to the building operations or when damage is done to the building itself. This information will provide guidance to building managers on evacuation and sustainment procedures for buildings in hot and humid climates that are affected by fuel or electrical disruptions.

Product Details

Published: 2022 Number of Pages: 8 Units of Measure: Dual Product Code(s): DBldgsXV-C051