Climate Change and Meteorological Effects on Building Energy Loads in Pearl River Delta

Sihao Chen, Yi Yang and Jiangbo Li ()
Additional contact information
Sihao Chen: College of Ocean Engineering and Energy, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, China
Yi Yang: College of Ocean Engineering and Energy, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, China
Jiangbo Li: School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-18

Abstract: Global climate change is significantly altering the energy consumption patterns and outdoor environments of buildings. The current meteorological data utilized for building design exhibit numerous deficiencies. To effectively address the needs of future building usage in design, it is crucial to establish more refined meteorological parameters that accurately reflect the climate of specific geographical locations. Utilizing 60 years of meteorological data from Guangzhou, this study employs the cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) method to define four archetypal meteorological years, providing a robust foundation for subsequent analysis. The findings indicate a significant increase in the frequency of high temperatures and temperature values during the summer months, with an increase of nearly 20% in the cumulative degree hours (CDHs) used for calculating a typical meteorological year (TMY4) over the past 30 years. Additionally, there has been an increase of 0.4–0.7 °C in the air conditioning design daily temperature. The statistics on outdoor calculation parameters for different geographical locations, as well as outdoor design parameters for varying guaranteed rate levels in the Pearl River Delta, reveal a substantial impact on outdoor calculation parameters. The maximum difference in cooling load is approximately 9.3%, with a generally high cooling demand in summer and a relatively low heating demand in winter. Furthermore, the calculation values for different non-guaranteed rates can be applied flexibly to meet the needs of engineering applications. This study provides a valuable reference for updating meteorological parameters in building design. By refining meteorological parameters, this study enables more accurate predictions of energy needs, leading to optimized building designs that reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. It supports the development of resilient buildings capable of adapting to changing climatic conditions, thus contributing to long-term environmental sustainability.

Keywords: climate change; typical meteorological year; outdoor calculation parameters; cooling and heating loads (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/348/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/1/348/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:1:p:348-:d:1560632

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().