The impact of local variations in a temperate maritime climate on building energy use

Abstract

We investigate the impact of local climatic variations on the energy performance of buildings by conducting simulations using weather files generated from high-resolution weather measurements covering 33 stations within a 77km2 area in southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Weather files were created by resampling and cleaning the data and applying appropriate models to obtain unmeasured values. The difference in microclimate has been analysed statistically and graphically; average annual temperature varies by around 1°C, and at certain times there is a 6°C variation across the (very small) region. Building energy simulations of a small naturally-ventilated office building and a larger air-conditioned building were performed using EnergyPlus for all weather files. Significant variation is found spatially and temporally which would have substantial implications for building design and energy use. The variation in annual heating energy use is +/- 5% of the mean, equivalent to 18kWh/m2 /a, with even greater relative variation in cooling energy use.