The effect of climate change on building heating and cooling energy demand in China

Abstract

Climate has a key impact on building energy efficiency. The impact of climate change on heating and cooling degree-days of China during the past 60 years was studied in this paper. The meteorological data of 613 cities published by National Climate Center of China was applied in this research. The study results showed that the impact of climate change on the spatial distribution characteristics of heating and cooling degree-days is obvious. The area with HDD18 °C over 2000 d·°C has dramatic shrunk during recent 30 years compared with the period from 1964 to 1983, while the area with CDD26 °C over 90 d·°C has expanded during recent 30 years. The impact of climate change on the HDD18 °C and CDD26 °C of each city is inhomogeneity. The decrease of HDD18 °C mainly occurred in the north and northwest of China, and the increase of CDD26 mainly occurred in the southeast of China. The outcomes of this paper may provide a theoretical basis for building energy efficiency design in future.