Climate-fit approach for Building Energy service confirmed at a stakeholder workshop in Bern
On 21 September, a Climate-fit.city stakeholder workshop for the Building Energy sector took place in Bern, Switzerland. The attendees consisted of a good mix of university teachers and staff, engineers, experts and municipality representatives.
The workshop was organised to gain a better understanding of the stakeholders’ climate data needs and to receive feedback about the methods chosen for the service.
The participants expressed a clear interest in data which takes into account actual and future urban climate effects and in an easier access to such data. The chosen methods to be applied by the project were also appreciated.
The data needs for building simulation could be defined quite narrowly: Most of the stakeholders need one "average" future scenario (A1B or RCP6.0), hourly data, fine spatial resolutions (25-250 m) and parameters, such as temperature, global radiation, wind speed, dew point and precipitation.
It was pointed out that it will be challenging to increase the use of data that considers urban and climate effects as long as regulations aren't changed and users not obliged to use the data. E.g. engineers are not using this kind of data because the current building energy regulations do not consider it as a precondition for getting an approval for a project.
The planned approach to demonstrate the use of urban climate data with building performance simulation tools was confirmed. The goal is to show the difference in energy consumption and indoor climate when adapted climate data is used instead of standard climate data. To obtain realistic results, it will be important to model the occupant behaviour in a realistic manner.
