TO-98-02-2 -- Which Weather Data Should You Use for Energy Simulations of Commercial Buildings? PDF

Users of energy simulation programs have a wide variety of weather data from which to choose--from locally recorded weather data to preselected "typical" years, often a bewildering range of options. In the last five years, several organizations have developed new typical weather data sets including WYEC2, TMY2, CWEC, and CTZ2. Unfortunately, neither how these new data influence energy simulation results nor how they compare to recorded weather data is well documented.

This paper presents results from the DOE-2.1E hourly energy simulation program for a prototype office building as influenced by local measured weather data for multiple years and several weather data sets for eight U.S. locations. We compare the influence of the various weather data sets on simulated annual energy use and costs and annual peak electrical demand, heating load, and cooling load.

Statistics for temperature, heating and cooling degree-days, and solar radiation for the different locations and data sets are also presented. Where possible, the author explains the variation relative to the different designs used in developing each data set. The variation inherent in actual weather data and how it influences simulation results is also shown. Finally, based on these results, the question is answered: which weather data should you use?

Units: I-P