A climate performance indicator for analysis of low energy buildings

The climate indicators that are currently used in the building energy area, summations of degree-days, are not suitable for net-zero and low energy analysis, because they fail to characterize the building-climate interaction. This paper presents a new set of climate indicators that focuses on overall climate and building performance, as well as specific climate statistics that have a relevant impact in NZEB and passive buildings. The proposed framework is based on three interrelated energy performance indicators. The total building climate performance indicator (BCP) is the product of the climate potential (CI) and building indicator (BI). BI is building dependent and characterizes the capability of a given building to maximize the existing climate potential (CI). The best climates and buildings are expected to have CIs and BIs that are close to one.