Climate Data For Building Simulations - The Building Enclosure

Climate Data for Building Simulations | The Building Enclosure
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M. Steven Doggett, Ph.D. LEED AP / February 27, 2014
Computer simulations rely on

a variety of datasets when
assessing the effects of
climate on building
performance. These data,
and the models they power,
provide an important basis
for planning, design, and
cost analysis. Below I
describe some of the major
types of climate datasets
used in energy and
hygrothermal modeling.
Weather Years
Datasets described here, including EWY, TRY-US, TRY-ROW, TMY, TMY2,
TMY3, IWEC, WYEC2, CWEC, and AMY represent weather years, which are
typically single year compilations for specific locations. Each year is
compiled from 8,760 hourly records for the desired data elements (e.g.
temperature, dew point, direct and diffuse solar radiation, wind speed,
wind direction, liquid precipitation, etc.). There are three general
approaches to selecting weather years. The first approach selects a
contiguous year where the monthly means and standard deviations for that
year match the means and standard deviations for a longer period of
record often 15 to 30 years. Examples of this approach include EWY and
TRY-US. The second approach involves creating composite years using
representative months from different years. Examples of this approach
include TRY-ROW, TMY, TMY2, TMY3, CWEC, WYEC2, and IWEC. These first
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two approaches were devised for the specific purpose of energy

simulations that compare long-term energy use under varied test
scenarios. Data selection therefore emphasized typical years that are
representative of these longer-term durations (e.g. 30 years). The third
approach includes Actual Meteorological Years (AMYs), which represent
hourly weather data from a single contiguous year that is not necessarily
representative of a greater span of time. This approach is favored when
examining atypical or extreme years.
Energy Vs Hygrothermal Data
There exists a dichotomy in the evolution of datasets for energy and
hygrothermal modeling. Where energy modeling has favored typical
weather years for the purpose of long-term energy use, hygrothermal
modeling has favored typical severe years. This is not to say
that datasets used by one pursuit are excluded from use by the other.
Hygrothermal modeling software can accept a wide variety of file types
typically used in energy modeling (e.g. TMY3). Often the limiting parameter
for robust hygrothermal analysis is whether the dataset includes rain
data. With the exception of the TMY3 format, most datasets designed for
energy simulation do not include quantitative rainfall data. Conversely,
energy modeling places much greater emphasis on the type and quality of
solar radiation data.
TRY (TRY-US) Test Reference Years
The TRY datasets were first created in 1976 by NOAAs National Climatic
Data Center. They entail hourly data from 60 locations in the United
States. The data include dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature, dew
point temperature, wind direction, wind speed, barometric pressure,
relative humidity, cloud cover, and cloud type. Absent in the TRY format is
information on solar radiation, which was generally estimated from cloud
cover and cloud type for a specific location. It is important to understand
that although TRY files contain measured meteorological information for
specific locations, they represent a single year from the 1948-1975 period
of record. The representative year was obtained by eliminating years that
contained months having high and low temperature means. This process
continued until a single reference year remained. The elimination of
extremes resulted in datasets that were significantly more moderate than
other contiguous years for the period of record. The TRY data therefore
represent a poor choice when evaluating atypical or extreme conditions.
The original TRY datasets also lacked precipitation data, which limits their
use when considering the effects of rain loads.
EWY Example Weather Years
Example Weather Year datasets in the UK were also developed in the 1970s
using methodologies similar to those used for TRY-US. These data were
compiled using a representative contiguous year from a 20-year period of
record. Although EWY datasets are still used, newer methodologies
developed by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
(CIBSE) created the Test Reference Year using a TMY-like composite year
from a 23-year period (1983-2005).
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TRY (TRY-ROW) Test Reference Years

TRY datasets created in Europe and other parts of the world employed
methods and data elements similar to those used in TMY datasets.
Therefore, TRY-US and TRY-ROW are not interchangeable.
TMY Typical Meteorological Year
TMY represents a refinement in the TRY methodology. The fist TMY
datasets were created in 1981 from a collaboration between NCDC and the
U.S. Department of Energy. These datasets expanded on TRY by including
horizontal and direct normal insolation data measured from 26 U.S.
locations for the period of 1952 to 1975. An additional 206 locations were
derived from estimates using cloud cover and cloud type. The typical year
was obtained in a similar manner as the TRY format; however, the data
represent individual months rather than an entire contiguous year. In
other words, the datasets represent an amalgam or months from different
years from the entire 23 year period of record. The data were selected
based on statistical analysis of monthly composites for eleven weather
variables. Those monthly composites that were closest to the distribution
for the entire period were selected. Like the TRY method, the data
selection process resulted in data that were more in keeping with the
long-term distribution (i.e. typical); thus they are more reflective of
moderate years, not atypical years or extremes.
A new TMY dataset was created as TMY2 in 1990. Improvements from the
original TMY format included refinements in weighted averages and a
revised period of record (1961-1990).
In 2005, the DOE introduced TMY3 files. This format included greater
emphasis on solar radiation data as well as the inclusion of precipitation
data. TMY3 files include data for approximately 2,500 locations primarily
in the United States and Europe. The TMY3 method is the currently
accepted approach for generating energy years for weather calculations in
the United States and its territories.
WYEC Weather Year for Energy Calculations
In 1983, ASHRAE created WYEC datasets as another means for simulating
typical weather patterns. This database was built on the TRY format
utilizing solar data that was either measured or estimated from cloud cover
and type. The original WYEC files included data for 51 North American
locations (46 locations in the United States and 5 in Canada).
The WYEC format was updated in 1992 utilizing the monthly weighted
average approach used by the TMY data. WYEC2 included 77 North
American locations. As with the TMY datasets, WYEC and WYEC2 files were
developed specifically for use with building energy simulation programs.
Both file types (WYEC and WYEC2) lack precipitation data.
CWEC Canadian Weather for Energy Calculations
The CWEC datasets represent typical year data based on the WYEC2/TMY
methodologies.
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IWEC International Weather Year for Energy Calculation

ASHRAE released IWEC weather files in 2000. These datasets contain
typical weather data based on the TMY format intended for use with
building energy simulation programs. The IWEC format utilizes 18 years of
hourly data by the National Climatic Data Center for 227 locations outside
the USA and Canada. Information on solar radiation is estimated on an
hourly basis from earth-sun geometry and hourly weather elements such as
cloud cover and type. IWEC files lack quantitative rain data but, they do
include rain intensity indicators such as light, moderate, and heavy
which can provide the basis for semi-quantitative estimates. Still, IWEC
files should not be relied upon for robust hourly precipitation data.
Version 2 of IWEC or IWEC2 represents ASHRAEs current weather format.
The data are derived from meteorological reports from over 3,000
international locations. IWEC utilizes data archived in the Integrated
Surface Hourly (ISH) database maintained by the NCDC. For these selected
locations, the ISH database contains weather observations on average at
least four times per day of wind speed and direction, sky cover, visibility,
ceiling height, dry-bulb temperature, dew-point temperature, atmospheric
pressure, liquid precipitation, and present weather for at least 12 years of
record up to 25 years.
The original IWEC files and the newer IWEC2 format used models that
estimate solar radiation data from cloud cover, change in dry-bulb
temperature over the past three hours, relative humidity, and wind speed.
AMY Actual Meteorological Year
As the title implies, AMY files represent actual hourly contiguous datasets
for a given location and time. Commercially-available AMY files are often
placed in TMY file format, but AMY files may be generated from data
sources as standard text files or even HTML. The most comprehensive data
source is the Integrated Surface Hourly database maintained by the NCDC.
Because the NCDC archived data is widely available and free, users may
create their own database specific to their individual needs. The
advantage of AMY datasets is their flexibility and customization; however,
when creating customized datasets the user may be challenged by
significant data gaps and a healthy dose of tedium. Still, AMY files are
the way to go when seeking customized datasets that account for actual
observed conditions and climate extremes.
EPW EnergyPlus
The EPW file format is utilized by EnergyPlus, the energy modeling software
developed by the U.S. Department of Energy. EPW files represent a type of
weather file, not a weather dataset. The EPW file is the default format for
DOEs library of weather files for over 2,100 locations including 1,042
locations in the United States, 71 locations in Canada, and 1,000 locations
in 100 other countries throughout the world. The EPW files were compiled
from TMY, TMY2, TMY3, and other international datasets.
MDRY Moisture Design Reference Years
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In 2011, ASHRAE 1325-RP developed Environmental Weather Loads for

Hygrothermal Analysis and Design of Buildings with the purpose
of developing representative weather year data for moisture design
calculations. This undertaking created a methodology to determine
Moisture Design Reference Years (MDRY) from hourly climate records for
100 locations in the United States and 7 locations in Canada. The current
data include a collection of three worst years for each location. The three
years were selected from two weather datasets: 1961-1990 SAMSON
dataset and the 1953-1993 CWEED dataset. Future updates will include
data from NCDCs 1990-2005 dataset. The equation-based method uses
average weather parameters for a north facing wall and predicts an
estimate for a damage function called RHT-index. The study also compared
the predicted damage function to simulated hygrothermal performance
with 30-year measured hourly data on a north-facing framed wall assembly
having an OSB moisture loading component. The most widely
used hygrothermal datasets have employed warm and cold hygrothermal
years selected from the 10th percentile of the warmest and coolest
years from 30-year measured hourly data (e.g. WUFIs cold year/warm
year). The newer MDRY datasets offer weather years that are, in some
cases, more severe. ASHRAE 1325 recommends the third highest damage
function, which corresponds to the 10th percentile for a 30-year dataset
and a severity event that is expected to occur once in every 10 years.
Synthetic Weather Data
Commercially available software, such as Meteonorm, can generate
weather data from monthly climate averages. For example, Meteonorm
creates hourly data using measured 30-year datasets for 7,400 locations.
The source of Meteonorms data include the Global Energy Balance Archive
(GEBA), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO/OMM) Climatological
Normals 19611990, and the Swiss database compiled by MeteoSwiss.
Among the strengths of Meteonorms process is its ability to interpolate
data for locations between reporting weather stations. Although
Meteonorm provides precipitation data, the synthetically derived rain data
may be unreliable when simulating driving rain events for hygrothermal
modeling.
In general, synthetic data may be well-suited for a wide variety of building
simulations, however, there are limitations to their reliability. It is
important to note that synthetic datasets rely heavily on interpolation
between weather stations and then generation of hourly data. In contrast,
datasets such as TMY use hourly measurements extracted from months
that are closet to average conditions to form a typical year dataset. Thus,
synthetic data may have an advantage in generating data for any location,
the generated data may or may not offer high reliability. Synthetic data
are similar to TMY and IWEC datasets in representing typical or normal
conditions, not extremes.
Reading and Conversion of Weather Files & Datasets
Energy modeling software packages have varying capabilities for reading
the growing array of file types and datasets. File conversion software is
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also available to facilitate exchange into proprietary applications, common

spreadsheet formats, or generic text formats such as ASCII and CSV. It
should be noted that TMY, TMY2, and TMY3 datasets are not
interchangeable due to variations in the collected data elements. File
conversion is necessary for most software packages.
Hygrothermal modeling software such as WUFI and hygRIC supply a
database of world weather files as well as updates for ASHRAE 1325
datasets (WDRY). In addition to its standard .WET file format, WUFI can
also accept weather data in the following formats:
TRYTest Reference Year datasets
DAT German National Meteorological Service
IWC International Weather Year for Energy Calculation (IWEC)
WAC WUFI ASCII climate format
WBC WUFI binary climate file
EPW EnergyPlus file
The developers of WUFI had the foresight to include a file conversion tool
that converts Excel spreadsheets into the ASCII-based WAC format. This
offers a fairly straigtforward approach for importing various types of
weather data. Tutorials for creating WAC files can be found here.
Resources
U.S. Department of Energy: EnergyPlus Weather Data Sources: Link
U.S. Department of Energy: Weather Files for Simulations: Link
Meteonorm: Link
WUFI: Creating *.WAC Weather Files: Link
Effect of Selected Weather Year for Hygrothermal Analyses: Link
A Fresh Look at Weather Impact on Peak Electricity Demand and Energy Use
of Buildings Using 30-Year Actual Weather Data: Link
The University of Exeter: Weather Files for Current and Future Climate: Link
Does It Matter Which Weather Data You Use in Energy Simulations? ACEEE
1996 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, 25-31 August 1996,
Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, California: Link
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February 27, 2014 in Featured. Tags: Building Energy Use, Building Simulations, Climate, Climate
Data, Climate Zones, Computer Simulations, Energy Calculations, Energy Climate Files, Energy
Modeling, Energy Simulation, Energy Weather Files, Extreme Weather, Hygrothermal Modeling,
Hygrothermal Simulation, Meteorological Data, Normal Weather, Simulations, Test Reference
Year, TMY3 Weather Data, Typical Meteorological Year, Typical Weather Patterns, Weather,
Weather Data, Weather Files, WUFI, WUFI Climate Data, WUFI Weather Data, WUFI Weather Data
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strategies for resilient, high-performing buildings

Copyright & Disclaimer

M. Steven Doggett, Ph.D. LEED AP / February 27, 2014

Computer simulations rely on