A new variable for climate change study and implications for the built environment

This short technical note presents an attempt to develop a new climatic variable Z for assessing climate change (global warming) with respect to the built environment. Principal component analysis of long-term (30-year) dry-bulb temperature (DBT), wet-bulb temperature and global solar radiation data was conducted in the 5 major climate zones in China. It was found that while the long-term trend was increasing for the DBT in all 5 major climates, hot summer and warm winter climate zone showed a decreasing trend (though slightly) in the annual and seasonal average Z values. This suggests that climate change might not necessarily result in higher cooling loads in buildings.