CIBSE (The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) has issued a new version of the weather data that is used by building designers in their calculation of heating and cooling requirements for buildings. 

The datasets provide climate information for building simulation software which is then used to demonstrate compliance to UK Building Regulations.

Produced in association with the MET Office, the datasets are based on historical data collected from 14 sites nationwide since the early 1980s. In the current version, this data is combined with the latest climate change projections to produce future weather files up to the 2080s. MET Office climate statistics show that the eight warmest years in the UK since 1910 have occurred in the last 14, so the new CIBSE weather files take into account rising temperatures and changes in wind speed and direction.

This updated dataset is important as it will impact on the way buildings are designed.  For the average year this may increase cooling requirements and decrease the need for heating, while new information on potential overheating considers the likelihood of severe heat events that is likely to impact overheating analysis across the whole country.

CIBSE research manager, Dr Anastasia Mylona, said: “These new datasets are based on the latest Met Office observations and climate projects and aim to provide the industry with an updated representation of current and future weather for thermal and energy building performance analysis.”

Weather datasets in various configurations can be purchased from CIBSE. For more information visit www.cibse.org.