TY - JOUR
T1 - Compound Climate and Infrastructure Events
T2 - How Electrical Grid Failure Alters Heat Wave Risk
AU - Stone, Brian
AU - Mallen, Evan
AU - Rajput, Mayuri
AU - Gronlund, Carina J.
AU - Broadbent, Ashley M.
AU - Krayenhoff, E. Scott
AU - Augenbroe, Godfried
AU - O'Neill, Marie S.
AU - Georgescu, Matei
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2021/5/18
Y1 - 2021/5/18
N2 - The potential for critical infrastructure failures during extreme weather events is rising. Major electrical grid failure or "blackout"events in the United States, those with a duration of at least 1 h and impacting 50,000 or more utility customers, increased by more than 60% over the most recent 5 year reporting period. When such blackout events coincide in time with heat wave conditions, population exposures to extreme heat both outside and within buildings can reach dangerously high levels as mechanical air conditioning systems become inoperable. Here, we combine the Weather Research and Forecasting regional climate model with an advanced building energy model to simulate building-interior temperatures in response to concurrent heat wave and blackout conditions for more than 2.8 million residents across Atlanta, Georgia; Detroit, Michigan; and Phoenix, Arizona. Study results find simulated compound heat wave and grid failure events of recent intensity and duration to expose between 68 and 100% of the urban population to an elevated risk of heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke.
AB - The potential for critical infrastructure failures during extreme weather events is rising. Major electrical grid failure or "blackout"events in the United States, those with a duration of at least 1 h and impacting 50,000 or more utility customers, increased by more than 60% over the most recent 5 year reporting period. When such blackout events coincide in time with heat wave conditions, population exposures to extreme heat both outside and within buildings can reach dangerously high levels as mechanical air conditioning systems become inoperable. Here, we combine the Weather Research and Forecasting regional climate model with an advanced building energy model to simulate building-interior temperatures in response to concurrent heat wave and blackout conditions for more than 2.8 million residents across Atlanta, Georgia; Detroit, Michigan; and Phoenix, Arizona. Study results find simulated compound heat wave and grid failure events of recent intensity and duration to expose between 68 and 100% of the urban population to an elevated risk of heat exhaustion and/or heat stroke.
KW - air conditioning systems
KW - blackout events
KW - building energy model
KW - compound climate event
KW - heat wave
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U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.1c00024
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.1c00024
M3 - Article
C2 - 33930272
AN - SCOPUS:85106524920
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 55
SP - 6957
EP - 6964
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 10
ER -