Building simulation tools can empower architects to evaluate and optimize the performance of their designs. Thus, it is essential to integrate building performance simulation modeling from an early design stage. A critical piece of the simulated environment is the weather file. It is a compilation of 20- 30 years of historical weather and hourly data on temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, and wind direction. The accuracy and contextual relevance of said data are of the utmost importance to the integrity of the analysis.
Current energy modeling weather files are unlikely to include any indication of risk from potential climate change or increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. Hence, there is a need to incorporate climate change projections in energy simulations and prepare architects for a better understanding of the change of design strategies echoing such climate change in the different climate zones.
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