Comparison of heating and cooling energy simulation using multi-years and typical weather data in South Korea

Abstract

Typical weather data (TWD) consists of 8760 values of various selected meteorological parameters such as ambient temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity and wind velocity, and are originally derived from long-term data. In this paper, TWDs have been generated, using three different methodologies, from hourly meteorological data measured in Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, and Busan. The aims of this study were to compare the simulation results from the three methodologies (ISO Test Reference Year, CIBSE Test Reference Year, and Typical Meteorological Year) with those from individual years and their long-term means to assess the important five components of the building envelope (wall-to-window ratio, window overhang, window transmissivity, window U-value, and wall U-value) for the influence on the heating and cooling load and to study the influence of the different weather parameters (temperature and solar radiation). Results of the comparison show that predicted monthly load and energy consumption profiles from the TWD tended to follow the long-term mean quite closely. The load calculations vary almost linearly as the building envelope components varied apart from the window U-value. The yearly average values of mean bias error and root mean squared error for the heating and cooling loads were evaluated for the three TWDs and long-term measured meteorological data. Practical application: This paper will enable engineers and building designers of buildings in South Korea to assess the heating and cooling loads with more confidence. The paper will enable designers to use the appropriate weather data when using computer simulation for the design. The designer will also be able to assess the energy efficiency better.