Urban meteorological forcing data for building energy simulations at a neighbourhood scale

Building energy use is one of the largest global demands,  accounting for 36% of final energy use and 39% of energy and process-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Green plans are the recommended planning technique for reducing the energy demand of buildings without changing the current built environment. This study investigates the effect of neighbourhood features on the energy performance of buildings. On the basis of building age and tree density, four typical Dublin city centre neighbourhoods are chosen to generate simulations. Surface Urban Energy and Water Balance Scheme (SUEWS) was used to generate the forcing climate data surrounding the neighbourhood, which was then fed into Integrated Environmental Solutions Virtual Environment (IES VE) as the meteorological data for conducting building energy simulations. The results showed that the fraction of trees plays an important role in wind speed in neighbourhoods. Incorporating the missing neighbourhood signature into the forcing data for building energy modelling improves the simulation's efficiency and precision. This study illustrates the importance of considering the local climate while simulating building energy efficiency.