Open Access

Jens Pfafferott, Christina Koppe, Christian Reetz

• The German Weather Service (DWD) releases a heat warning, when the weather forecast provides a warm, humid, sunny, and windless weather condition during the next days. The heat stress is calculated by the so called Klima-Michel model. If the apparent air temperature exceeds ca. 32°C / 38°C, there is a strong / extreme heat stress. The smallest forecast area is each administrative district. AsThe German Weather Service (DWD) releases a heat warning, when the weather forecast provides a warm, humid, sunny, and windless weather condition during the next days. The heat stress is calculated by the so called Klima-Michel model. If the apparent air temperature exceeds ca. 32°C / 38°C, there is a strong / extreme heat stress. The smallest forecast area is each administrative district. As people (and especially the vulnerable population) stay most of the time indoors, the heat health warning system was extended by the prediction of heat stress in typical rooms. Therewith it is feasible to forecast the heat stress using a combination of the outdoor and indoor heat stress. The prediction for the indoor heat stress is based on the same weather forecast like the Heat Health Warning Systems (HHWS).and calculates the heat stress by the PMV-model (predicted mean vote). Based on a sophisticated data analysis and simulation study, realistic but summer-critical living situations were defined and implemented in the building simulation program ESP-r. As the simulation runs especially for extreme weather conditions, a simplified building model cannot be used. Standardized input/output routines and an adaptive handover of start values provide for short run times for each forecast area. Good building designs and urban planning provide effective measures to reduce heat stress in cities. However, we have to also pay attention to the present building stock under climate change and a higher heat-wave risk. The extended German HHWS provide information for the emergency services to support the social assistants during heat waves.…