Impacts of climate change on building cooling demands in the UAE

A large proportion of electricity in the UAE is consumed in meeting air conditioning cooling demands in buildings where, up to 80% of a buildings total electricity demand is for cooling. With projected climate changes in the UAE predicting an increase in annual mean temperature of 2.80C and minimal reductions in relative humidity and global solar radiation by 2050, cooling energy demands are set to increase. This paper reports on a study of how the climatic drivers of cooling energy demand change under a ‘businessas-usual’ scenario of climate change. A typical UAE office building is simulated under generated annual hourly weather datasets of 2020, 2050 and 2080. The results show an increase in cooling demand of 22.2% by 2050 and 40.0% by 2080. The comparative effect of climate changes on a number of heat gain sources and paths are examined and discussed to identify the most effective solutions for improving resilience.