The vulnerability of homes to overheating in Myanmar today and in the future: A heat index analysis of measured and simulated data

Zune, May; Rodrigues, Lucelia; Gillott, Mark

Abstract

© 2020 The integration of vernacular strategies in Myanmar housing seems to have remained remarkably resilient and is still the norm even in modern dwellings. However, no regard is given to the possible impact of climate change. Using one-year monitored indoor and outdoor thermal environment data, typical and a morphed weather data representing future climate change scenarios, the authors investigated whether modern dwellings in Myanmar can provide thermal comfort in the present and future, and measured how vulnerable to overheating risks they are. Building envelope materials based on typical construction found locally and window shading were varied in the simulations, in order to understand their role in the resultant building performance. The analysis showed that the number of hours above 30 °C in 2019 doubled when compared to a typical weather year. This study contributes valuable insights into how the combined effect of air temperature and humidity will affect building thermal performance in future climate scenarios. Temperature readings reaching the 'danger' heat index threshold were 14.06% of the time in 2019 and only 5.49% in the typical weather year. This indicated that modern dwellings in Myanmar are facing two challenges: high vulnerability to extreme heatwave events, and inadequate response to increased mean air temperatures.

Citation

Zune, M., Rodrigues, L., & Gillott, M. (2020). The vulnerability of homes to overheating in Myanmar today and in the future: A heat index analysis of measured and simulated data. Energy and Buildings, 223, Article 110201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110201

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 31, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jun 5, 2020
• Publication Date: Sep 15, 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 13, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 6, 2021
• Journal: Energy and Buildings
• Print ISSN: 0378-7788
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 223
• Article Number: 110201
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2020.110201
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4737255
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378778820302978