Assessing the Potential Energy Savings in Residential Buildings by City-Scale Application of Cool Materials in a Temperate Oceanic Metropolis

The urban overheating is a well-documented phenomenon caused by the synergic action of local and global climate change. Increasing the albedo of cities by means of cool materials is an effective strategy. This paper explores the building cooling saving potential of large-scale application of cool materials through the case of a temperate oceanic metropolis: Melbourne, Australia. A mesoscale model is implemented and validated using the calculation platform WRF, creating reference and modified albedo scenarios of the two hottest summer month. The weather data feeds a dynamic building energy model and the potential energy savings are calculated. Energy savings up to 2.2 kWh/m2 and 31% are calculated, moreover the city scale application over performs the single building application by 0.7 kW/m2. The analysis of spot results show that the urban albedo modification strongly reduces the cooling energy use of buildings in the warmer inner city compared to sea-breeze mitigated coastal areas.