Radiative cooling for Climate-Ready Buildings: A new scalable parametric simulation framework enhancing energy and comfort performance

With buildings responsible for over 30% of global energy consumption, optimizing passive cooling strategies is critical for climate change mitigation. To this aim, this study introduces a new workflow integrating spectral-dependent radiative cooling material properties into Building Performance Simulation (BPS) tools, addressing gaps in modeling atmospheric transmittance and emissivity dynamics. Leveraging EnergyPlus within a Visual Programming Language (VPL) framework, the workflow automates multi-criteria assessments across diverse building prototypes and climates. Results demonstrate radiative cooling materials reduce surface temperatures by up to 10°C below ambient air temperature, reducing the indoor operative temperatures by 5–7 °C in hot climates, yielding ∼ 60 % cooling energy savings in extreme regions like Miami and Tampa. However, colder climates reveal trade-offs, with heating demand increases of 40–100 % offsetting cooling benefits. The analysis highlights material emissivity optimization as a key driver, particularly in balancing longwave radiation efficiency with solar reflectance. Challenges persist in scaling deployment, including spectral aging effects and retrofitting compatibility with existing HVAC systems to be investigated by means of urban-scale simulations. This research advances radiative cooling as a viable passive strategy for decarbonizing building stocks, providing a systematic framework to guide material innovation and climate-responsive implementation policies.