ABSTRACT
Natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, and severe winter storms often produce power outages in urban and rural areas. Recent extreme weather events such as the 2003 blackout in the Eastern US and the 2012 Superstorm Sandy in the New York City metropolitan area illustrated the vulnerability of buildings to electrical power outages: many buildings were rendered uninhabitable due to their heating and/ or cooling systems not functioning. 1
During power outages, typical heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems in buildings cannot function due to various system electrical requirements; consequently, these buildings cannot provide adequate indoor thermal comfort and risk losing their livable conditions due to indoor overheating or overcooling depending on the season. Air conditioning systems utilize electric pumps and compressors to move heat out of buildings in order to provide cooling. Buildings that use a furnace or boiler for heating often still have a heating fuel source during a blackout (natural gas or oil); however, these systems are not functional without electricity to power the fans or pumps to move the heated air or water throughout the building.
