Typical weather year

Building simulation software can be used to predict the energy consumptions in buildings and to perform dynamic thermal analysis of HVAC systems. An accurate estimation requires the precise representation of the periodic change in local weather conditions. Typical weather year files like Test Reference Year (TRY) and Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) are commonly used for such purposes. Very often the weather year file developed for one place is employed in the numerical simulation of the other places having geographical similarities. Taking the fact that there are long-term changes in average weather conditions in the South China region, the practices of developing typical weather year files were reviewed and discussed based on two neighboring cities: Hong Kong and Macau. Through the statistical analysis of the 25-year weather data (1979-2003) of Hong Kong, the TMY file for Hong Kong was produced. The file has been converted into the EnergyPlus/ESP-r weather format for the use of the building simulation community. This is publicly available at the US Department of Energy, EnergyPlus Energy Simulation Software website:

Comparison of 5 selected “Typical Meteorological Month” candidates for Hong Kong and Macau

Calendar Month	Typical Meteorological Months
	Macau	Hong Kong (5 candidates)
	Macau	1	2	3	4	5
January	1991	1995	1980	1997	1999	1994
February	1995	1988	1997	2000	1990	1998
March	1982	2003	1998	1993	1996	1982
April	1993	1986	1980	2001	1979	1993
May	1997	1997	1993	1986	1995	2000
June	1990	1990	1986	1991	1989	1984
July	1991	2000	1990	1986	1980	1996
August	1982	2002	1996	1993	1991	1989
September	1982	1982	1996	2003	1990	1995
October	1986	1984	1980	1989	1987	1981
November	1990	1989	1984	2002	2003	1995
December	1986	1993	2001	2000	1989	1985

Comparison of composite weighted index values (WS) of TRY with TMM Rank No. 1 and No. 5 for Hong Kong

Journal articles:

Chan ALS, Chow TT, Fong SKF, Lin JZ. Generation of a Typical Meteorological Year for Hong Kong. Energy Conversion and Management, 83(1), 2006, 87-96.

Chow TT, Chan ALS, Fong KF, Lin Z. Some perceptions on typical weather year – from the observations of Hong Kong and Macau. Solar Energy, 80(4), 2006, 459-467.

Chan ALS. Developing a modified typical meteorological year weather file for Hong Kong taking into account the urban heat island effect. Building and Environment 46 (12), 2011, 2434-2441.

Chan ALS. Developing furture hourly weather files for studying the impact of climate change on building energy performance in Hong Kong. Energy and Buildings 43(10), 2011, 2860-2868.

Conference paper:

Chow TT, Chan ALS. A case study of developing typical weather year file. Proceedings of the 35th International Congress on Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning, Belgrade, Serbia, Dec 2004. (CD ROM)