Impact of urban heat island on cooling energy demand for residential building in Montreal using meteorological simulations and weather station observations

Urban heat island (UHI) and the increased frequency of heatwaves due to climate change reduce thermal comfort inside buildings leading to increased use of air conditioning systems. In this research, the impact of the actual local climate on the cooling energy demand of residential buildings in Montreal is studied. Building energy simulations (BES) are conducted for microclimates at eight locations in the Montreal area and compared with a reference weather data. The climate data for four locations are provided by weather stations. The other climate data are simulated with a detailed weather research and forecasting (WRF) model at 250 m resolution with detailed land-use data over a period of four months during the summer of 2020. The air temperatures from meteorological mesoscale simulations are validated with available weather station observations. The BES results show an increase in the cooling energy demand due to higher air temperatures at urban locations compared to the rural periphery. The cooling energy demand varies significantly over the eight locations although being within a radius of 20 km. The mean variation in cooling energy demand between the locations amounts to 14 % compared to the average cooling demand. Using the reference climate data provided in BES, the cooling energy demand is significantly underestimated by 25 % to 34 % on average. Increasing the thermostat cooling setpoint with 1 °C results in a reduction in mean cooling energy demand of 4.5 kWh/m2, or 11.7 %. A linear trend is found between the cooling energy demand from BES and cooling degree hours (CDH) indicating CDH can be used as a first indication for building energy demand.