Effects of climate change on outdoor meteorological parameters for building energy-saving design in the different climate zones of China

Meteorological parameters are the basis for building energy-saving design and operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems (HVAC). In this study, changes in meteorological parameters of Harbin, Tianjin, Kunming, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, representing the five major climate zones of China, were analyzed to determine the effects of climate change on meteorological parameters. The results demonstrated that outdoor design temperatures for heating or air-conditioning significantly increased in all five climate zones. The increasing rate of design temperatures for both heating and air-conditioning in winter were in the range of 0.2 °C-0.7 °C/decade, and the rate of design temperature for air-conditioning in summer was in the range of 0.1 °C-0.4 °C/decade. The design load was calculated by outdoor design temperature. Compared with the design load during 1961-1990, the heating design load decreased 2.8% and 4.4% in Harbin and Tianjin during 1981-2010, respectively. The design load for air-conditioning in winter decreased 1.7%, 1.4%, 2.4% and 3.2% in Harbin, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, respectively. By contrast, design load for air-conditioning in summer during 1981-2010 increased 0.8%, 1.1%, 2.9% and 2.2% in Harbin, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, respectively. On average, the effect of climate change on design loads is more intense in winter than summer, which may be beneficial for building energy-saving design. The results in this study suggest that climate change has evident effects on design meteorological parameters and design load. It is necessary to note that responses of design meteorological parameters to climate change are apparently different in five climate zones. Hence, different design strategies for building energy-saving should be considered appropriately according to different climate change characteristics in different climate zones.