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Environmental and Behavioral Factors Affecting Residential Air Conditioning Use in Athens and London

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Sustainable Environmental Design in Architecture

Part of the book series: Springer Optimization and Its Applications ((SOIA,volume 56))

Abstract

The recent extremely hot summers in Europe have seen a rapidly expanding market in mechanical cooling in dwellings, especially in big cities. Along with urban climate factors, a number of behavioral factors are further contributing to a significant rise in cooling demand across the EU including countries with a more moderate climate, such as the UK. This chapter investigates environmental and behavioral factors affecting residential air conditioning use in two large EU cities with different climates – Athens and London. This scoping study analyses carbon and health implications of increasing cooling demand, and identifies important physical attributes and occupants’ behavioral patterns that affect air conditioning use, as well as, typical operational temperatures and schedules. The high satisfaction with domestic air conditioning units highlighted in both studies suggests that in the foreseeable future with changing climate the UK may experience a similar increase in market penetration of domestic air conditioning as has occurred in Greece over the last 20 years. This might have a major impact on the summer electricity load and domestic sector carbon emissions in the UK, which already accounts for almost 30% of the UK building stock emission.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the many households participated in the studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London, London, UK

    Lia Chatzidiakou, Ayub Pathan & Dejan Mumovic

  2. UCL Energy Institute, University College London, London, UK

    Alex Summerfield

Authors
  1. Lia Chatzidiakou
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  2. Ayub Pathan
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  3. Alex Summerfield
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  4. Dejan Mumovic
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dejan Mumovic .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge, 1-5 Scroope Terrace, Cambridge, CB2 1PX, UK

    Stamatina Th. Rassia

  2. Dept. Industrial & Systems, Engineering, University of Florida, Weil Hall 303, Gainesville, 32611-6595, Florida, 32611, USA

    Panos M. Pardalos

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Chatzidiakou, L., Pathan, A., Summerfield, A., Mumovic, D. (2012). Environmental and Behavioral Factors Affecting Residential Air Conditioning Use in Athens and London. In: Rassia, S.T., Pardalos, P.M. (eds) Sustainable Environmental Design in Architecture. Springer Optimization and Its Applications(), vol 56. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0745-5_7

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