Overheating Risk in Naturally Ventilated Public Buildings in the Baltic Region Under Increasing Heatwave Conditions
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This paper investigates summertime indoor overheating in naturally ventilated public buildings located in a cool temperate Baltic climate, where buildings are traditionally designed for heating-dominated conditions. The study is based on long-term field measurements conducted in two naturally ventilated rooms (a school classroom and a physician’s consultation office) and aims to quantify indoor overheating and examine indoor–outdoor thermal relationships. Indoor air temperature was continuously monitored and analysed together with concurrent outdoor air temperature and global solar radiation data. Overheating was assessed using fixed temperature thresholds (26 °C and 28 °C), exceedance hours, degree-hours, diurnal distributions, and indoor–outdoor temperature correlations; adaptive comfort criteria were not applied. The results reveal a pronounced contrast between the two spaces. The classroom experienced frequent and severe overheating and strong coupling to outdoor air temperature (R2 = 0.60), whereas the physician’s office exhibited limited exceedance and a more buffered thermal response, with weaker indoor–outdoor coupling (R2 = 0.32). These findings indicate substantial room-to-room variability in overheating behaviour, even under the same climatic conditions. While derived from a limited two-room case study, the results suggest that room-level assessment may be valuable for identifying overheating risks in naturally ventilated public buildings in cool-climate regions.
Source: Energies
DOI: 10.3390/en19041065
Institution: Riga Technical University
Language: English
Subfield: Building and Construction
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
Funder: Rīgas Tehniskā Universitāte
Awards: G1314581055, G2958328203, G5420584630
OpenAlex ID: W7130505901