Climatic influences on the energy performance of air-conditioned buildings

The computer package DOE-2.1E was used to simulate the thermal and energy performance of fully air-conditioned office buildings in Hong Kong. Seventeen weather data sets from 1979 to 1995 were used for the computer simulation. The objective was to investigate the likely diversity in computer predictions based on different weather years. Predictions of annual cooling loads, peak cooling loads and annual electricity consumption were found to differ by up to about 14%. Implications for the development of a building energy code are discussed. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.