A new open climate dataset makes it possible to anticipate how the energy needs of European buildings will change and design them for the conditions they will actually face.
Buildings designed today will remain in use for decades, but energy simulations still often rely on historical climate records that may be more than 30 years old. Researchers from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and the University of Coimbra have developed future weather data for more than 5,000 European locations, with the aim of incorporating climate change into building design and assessment.
The files provide hourly information for the middle and end of the century under different emissions scenarios and can be used directly in existing simulation tools. This makes it possible to analyse how aspects such as heating and cooling demand or solar shading requirements will evolve.
The complete dataset is freely available at climatedataforbuildings.eu, providing professionals and institutions with a common basis for designing and renovating buildings in line with the climatic conditions they will face over their lifetime.
