Number Of Heating Degree Days Research Articles

Research on the effect of exercise behavior on thermal comfort and heating degree days in sports buildings

The exercise behavior has a significant impact on thermal comfort and energy consumption in heating buildings. It is crucial to strike a balance between building energy efficiency and indoor thermal comfort. In this study, we assessed thermal comfort during exercise under indoor conditions in winter by testing the exercise routine of 60 subjects and calculating the number of heating degree days and optimizing the heating cycle. The results showed that exercise behavior significantly affects thermal comfort, with the thermal sensory zone corresponding to thermal comfort shifting and expanding towards the neutral and cooler side. The actual thermal comfort range of the subjects expanded (14.5–17.1 °C) compared to the thermal comfort criterion, suggesting that exercise behavior enhanced the subjects' adaptive capacity. Specifically, at temperatures below thermal neutral (15.8 °C), subjects exhibited a high level of environmental satisfaction, reaching at least 80 %. Additionally, subjects demonstrated thermal 'superconductivity,' with preferred and comfort temperatures approximately 0.8 °C and 0.5 °C lower than the thermal neutral temperature, respectively, indicating a preference for neutral or slightly cooler environments in winter. Furthermore, the base temperature (15.7 °C) was 2.3 °C lower, indicating that heating degree days 18 significantly overestimated heating demand by a factor of at least 1.4. The upper and lower indoor heating set point temperatures (15–17 °C) are about 1–7 °C and 1–3 °C lower than the Chinese building energy efficiency standards, respectively, demonstrating superior energy efficiency in the context of exercise behavior.

Heating and cooling degree-days vs climate change in years 1979-2021. Evidence from the European Union and Norway

Energy consumption depends strongly on weather conditions. Thus, to formulate energy-related policy goals, it is crucial to monitor changes related to the heating degree days (HDD) and cooling degree days (CDD) – widely applied indicators of climate change. The study investigated the impact that climate change (global warming) exerted on the number of HDD and CDD, as well as the weather-related final energy consumption of the European households (EU-27 and Norway), based on data derived from Eurostat for the period 1979-2021. The results indicate that the changes in HDD and CDD constituted non-linear functions of the country’s average temperature, with the largest percentage changes observed in the warmest (in the case of HDD) and the coldest (in the case of CDD) portion of European countries. As indicated by estimations based on first-difference linear regression models, climate change has contributed so far to the net decrease in weather-related energy consumption of households.

Investigation of Energy Saving Potential in Buildings Using Novel Developed Lightweight Concrete

In this study, three different composite materials were produced from mixtures of natural and waste materials in different proportions. The produced composites were used to determine the insulation thickness of exterior walls of buildings located in 12 provinces selected from the four different climate zones of Turkey. The selection of provinces was made according to Turkish standard TS 825. The produced materials are thermal insulation elements that can be used instead of construction elements, such as brick, on the exterior walls of the buildings. In this study, only the heating of the buildings was considered and the number of heating degree days of the provinces was taken into account to determine the insulation thickness. The life cycle cost analysis method was used to determine the optimum insulation thickness. It was determined that the optimum insulation thickness values calculated for four different fuel types for the selected provinces varied between 0.170 m and 1.401 m. The annual energy requirement for the unit surface area of the exterior walls of the insulated buildings was determined to be 11,213–965,715 kJ·m−2 per year. Moreover, it was determined that the insulation costs ranged between $ 22,841 m−2 and $ 114,841 m−2, and the payback period ranged from approximately 2.5 to 6.5 years. It was concluded that using these new types of materials in the determined regions were advantageous in terms of thermal insulation, fire resistance, mechanical properties, production costs, extra labor costs, and optimum insulation thickness.

Letting the Gini out of the fuel poverty bottle? Correlating cold homes and income inequality in European Union countries

The last 3–4 decades have seen large increases in economic inequality within high-income countries. A newly emerging strand of research is exploring how this impacts on energy consumption. However, as yet there are no macro-level studies on how economic inequality relates to energy poverty on the national level. This paper investigates whether income inequality in EU countries is correlated with energy poverty by one of its definitions: a household’s inability to keep their home adequately warm. Using country-level data for all 28 EU countries for all years 2009–2017, I regress the percentage of households who cannot keep their home adequately warm, against a set of independent variables including: the Gini index as a measure of income inequality; GDP per capita; the number of heating degree days; and several other likely determinants of energy poverty. I find the Gini index, GDP per capita and the number of heating degree days to be persistently strong and statistically significant predictors of the percentage unable to heat their homes, while the effects of the Gini index increase disproportionately as this percentage increases. This suggests that macroeconomic policy needs to be addressed, along with energy efficiency policy, to relieve the discomfort of cold homes in European winters.

Development and experimental validation of a TRNSYS model for energy design of air-to-water heat pump system

The object of this research work is the comparison of the annual primary energy consumption of different types of heating systems, using two different calculation methods. The TRNSYS 18 software makes use of dynamic simulation, while the WinWatt software calculates according to the Hungarian implementation of EPBD (Decree No. 7/2006). There were differences in results which could be caused by the more precise calculation of the TRNSYS software. Differences were shown also in the weather data used by the two computer tools that had one of the most important effects on the results according this investigation. The number of heating degree days used by TRNSYS is 10% less, than that the Hungarian decree provides. Using the yearly measured energy consumption data given by the inhabitant of the investigated family house, the validation of the developed dynamic building energy simulation model by TRNSYS could be also achieved with good agreement.

Evaluation of the Cost-Effectiveness of the Installation of Heat-Cost Allocators in Multifamily Buildings in Croatia

In order to improve energy efficiency, the Croatian government introduced an individual metering obligation for all district heat network users. The purpose of the research was to evaluate this policy measure regarding its effects on tenants’ behavior and energy savings, but also from the perspective of cost-effectiveness. The sample includes approximately 20% of all Croatian users of district heat energy. Energy savings related to the installation of heat cost allocators are calculated by comparing the specific heat energy consumption, corrected for the number of heating degree days, in periods before and after the installation of the heat cost allocators. The cost-effectiveness assessment is based on the concept of the net present value. The transition to individual metering in Croatia resulted in significant energy savings averaged from 20 to 35%. However, low heat energy prices in cities with a dominant share of heat energy consumption did not ensure a positive net present value of investment for all buildings.

Changes in Canada's Climate: Trends in Indices Based on Daily Temperature and Precipitation Data

ABSTRACTTrends in indices based on daily temperature and precipitation are examined for two periods: 1948–2016 for all stations in Canada and 1900–2016 for stations in the south of Canada. These indices, a number of which reflect extreme events, are considered to be impact relevant. The results show changes consistent with warming, with larger trends associated with cold temperatures. The number of summer days (when daily maximum temperature >25°C) has increased at most locations south of 65°N, and the number of hot days (daily maximum temperature >30°C) and hot nights (daily minimum temperature >22°C) have increased at a few stations in the most southerly regions. Very warm temperatures in both summer and winter (represented by the 95th percentile of their daily maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively) have increased across the country, with stronger trends in winter. Warming is more pronounced for cold temperatures. The frost-free season has become longer with fewer frost days, consecutive frost days, and ice days. Very cold temperatures in both winter and summer (represented by the 5th percentile of their daily maximum and minimum temperatures, respectively) have increased substantially across the country, again with stronger trends in the winter. Changes in other temperature indices are consistent with warming. The growing season is now longer, and the number of growing degree-days has increased. The number of heating degree-days has decreased across the country, while the number of cooling degree-days has increased at many stations south of 55°N. The frequency of annual and spring freeze–thaw days shows an increase in the interior provinces and a decrease in the remainder of the country. Changes in precipitation indices are less spatially coherent. An increase in the number of days with rainfall and heavy rainfall is found at several locations in the south. A decrease in the number of days with snowfall and heavy snowfall is observed in the western provinces, while an increase is found in the north. There is no evidence of significant changes in the annual highest 1-day rainfall and 1-day snowfall. The maximum number of consecutive dry days has decreased, mainly in the south.

The determinants of regime switching in the natural gas and crude oil cointegrating relationship

The goal of this analysis is to find determinants of the endogenous regime-switching process underlying the cointegrating relationship between natural gas and crude oil. We do so by modeling the cointegrating equation as a two-state, Markov-switching process with time-varying transition probabilities. Many factors across energy markets and the macroeconomy were tried. Ultimately, we found that regime switching in the cointegrating relationship was driven by (a) natural gas supplies (though not crude oil supplies), (b) the deviation of the number of heating degree days from average (reflecting natural gas demand) and (c) the collapse of Enron. This result is consistent with previous research, which found crude oil to be exogenous in the cointegrating relationship. Last, we found that macroeconomic data has no effect on the transition probabilities.

Mid‐twenty‐first‐century projected trends in North American heating and cooling degree days

Heating degree days and cooling degree days are overall measures of the demand for heating and cooling services. These measures serve as indices for financial products known as temperature derivatives (and more generally, weather derivatives), which allow utility companies and other businesses to hedge against weather risks. Weather derivatives are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and as of 2011, the size of the weather risk market was estimated to be $11.8bn. Questions linking climate change to weather derivatives naturally arise. In this paper, we estimate trends in the annual projected number of heating degree days and cooling degree days over North America using regional climate model output for years 2038–2068. The regional climate model data are obtained from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program. Two methods are demonstrated, one empirical and data driven, and the other taking advantage of spatial statistical models. Both methods incorporate regional climate model ensemble variability and produce trend estimates across North America. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Efficiency analysis of EU-25 member states as tourist destinations

In this paper, a data envelopment analysis (DEA) of the tourism sector of the different EU-25 member states is presented. Two main inputs, namely number of bed-places and number of persons employed are considered. Two additional non-discretionary inputs have been included in the analysis, namely the inverse of the number of heating degree days (HDD) and the number of properties inscribed on the World Heritage List (WHL) of UNESCO. The three outputs considered are number of tourists, number of overnight stays in all types of accommodation establishments and international tourism receipts. Only nine of the 25 member states are deemed efficient. Except France, the efficient countries do not include such traditional tourist destinations as Spain, Italy, UK or Germany. In a second phase, multidimensional scaling (MDS) is used to visualise the relationships among the countries in terms of the inputs and outputs considered and their efficiency scores. Different clusters, with clear characteristic features, emerge.

Urban heat island and its effect on the cooling and heating demands in urban and suburban areas of Hong Kong

This study investigates the urban heat island characteristics of four major areas of Hong Kong. The areas of study include a densely populated and well-developed commercial area (i.e., Tsim Sha Tsui) and three suburban areas (i.e., Cheung Chau, Lau Fau Shan and Sha Tin) with differing degrees of development. The weather station data of respective areas were acquired from the Hong Kong Observatory. The urban heat island intensity, determined as the air-temperature difference between the selected urban/suburban area and the reference rural area (i.e., Ta Kuw Ling) with thin population and lush vegetation, was used for the analysis. Results showed stronger heat island effect during winter and nighttime than during summer and daytime. An investigation of the cooling and heating degree days indicate that all areas have observed higher number of cooling degree days. However, the cooling degree days were the maximum while heating degree days were the minimum in the urban area (i.e., Tsim Sha Tsui). Clearly, the minimum heating degree days and the maximum cooling degree days in the urban area were a direct consequence of urban heat island. The 10-year (i.e., from 1995 to 2005) average shows that Cheung Chau experienced the least number of cooling degree days while Lau Fau Shan experienced the highest number of heating degree days. Seemingly, the area of Cheung Chau offers better thermal comfort conditions with the minimum number of cooling and heating degree days.