Weather is a fundamental driver of building behavior, and weather data a key input for building energy performance simulation.
Weather data represent an important prerequisite for BPS, so it is worth taking some time to select the right weather file. Some of the aspects to consider will be: <ul class="circleList"> <li> Location, to start with the most obvious. Still, one should not underestimate the impact of variations at a micro scale: the difference between measurements at the nearest airport (often the only available) and conditions in a city center may be significant.</li> <li> Simulation purpose: are you looking at average energy demand, peak heating loads, overheating risk? You may need different weather periods for each of these cases.</li> <li>Time: you may use simulation for future years, past periods (with calibration) or the days to come (for instance for model-based control). Unfortunately, the only freely available data is often aggregated weather for the past two or three decades.</li> </ul>