Energy performance of office building envelope designs in the five major climate zones - severe cold, cold, hot summer and cold winter, mild, and hot summer and warm winter - in China was investigated. A major city within each climate zone was selected. These were Harbin, Beijing, Shanghai,...

Buildings account for about 40% of the global energy consumption and contribute over 30% of the CO2 emissions. A large proportion of this energy is used for thermal comfort in buildings. This paper reviews thermal comfort research work and discusses the implications for building energy...

Correlation between clearness index and sunshine duration is useful to the estimation of the solar radiation for areas where measured solar radiation data are not available. Regression techniques were used to investigate the correlations between daily global solar radiation and sunshine duration...

This short technical note presents an attempt to develop a new climatic variable Z for assessing climate change (global warming) with respect to the built environment. Principal component analysis of long-term (30-year) dry-bulb temperature (DBT), wet-bulb temperature and global solar radiation...

Principal component analysis of 30-year long-term meteorological variables was conducted. Typical principal component years (TPCYs) were determined for Harbin, Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and Hong Kong representing the five major architectural climates across China: severe cold, cold, hot summer...

Buildings account for a significant proportion of the total energy and carbon emissions worldwide, and play an important role in formulating sustainable development strategies. There is a growing interest in ZEBs (zero energy buildings) in recent years. Several countries have adopted or...

The correlation between the clearness index and sunshine duration is useful in the estimation of the solar radiation for areas where measured solar radiation data are unavailable. Regression techniques and artificial neural networks were used to investigate the correlations between daily global...

Studies on the impact of climate change on energy use in buildings in the different parts of the world were reviewed. Potential mitigation and adaptation measures were discussed and further research work suggested. In severe cold climates reduction in heating requirement would outweigh the...