Cooling
Policy report
Policy recommendations to increase urban heat stress resilience
This policy note integrates multidisciplinary policy recommendations that could mitigate the numerous negative impacts of heatwaves on public health, urban infrastructure and services through adaptation to heatwaves.
Working paper
Residential building codes do save energy: evidence from hourly smart-meter data
In 1978, California adopted building codes designed to reduce the energy used for heating, cooling, and water heating in buildings. Using a rich dataset of hourly electricity consumption for 158,112 California houses during 2012-13, this paper estimates that single-family homes built from 1980 through 1982 consumed on average 13% less electricity for cooling than premises...
Report
Inclusion of heating and cooling energy load limits in NatHERS assessments: Regulation Impact Statement for decision
This Decision Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) examines the expected impacts, including costs and benefits, associated with a proposal to add separate heating and cooling load limits or ‘load limits’ to the current Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) compliance pathway for the energy performance of residential buildings in the National Construction Code (NCC, or the...
Report
Driving increased utilisation of cool roofs on large-footprint buildings: final report
Cool roof technology is known to reduce the cooling energy consumption of conditioned buildings during hot periods, and widespread implementation of such roofs in a neighbourhood or precinct can mitigate the urban heat island effect. Established building energy modelling techniques are able in principle to predict the benefits of cool roofs due to reduced heat...