A Methodology for Assembling Future Weather Files Including Heatwaves for Building Thermal Simulations from the European Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (EURO-CORDEX) Climate Data

Typical and extreme weather datasets for studying the resilience of buildings to climate change and heatwaves

We present unprecedented datasets of current and future projected weather files for building simulations in 15 major cities distributed across 10 climate zones worldwide. The datasets include ambient air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, direct and diffuse solar irradiance, and wind speed at hourly resolution, which are essential climate elements needed to undertake building simulations. The datasets contain typical and extreme weather years in the EnergyPlus weather file (EPW) format and multiyear projections in comma-separated value (CSV) format for three periods: historical (2001-2020), future mid-term (2041-2060), and future long-term (2081-2100). The datasets were generated from projections of one regional climate model, which were bias-corrected using multiyear observational data for each city. The methodology used makes the datasets among the first to incorporate complex changes in the future climate for the frequency, duration, and magnitude of extreme temperatures. These datasets, created within the IEA EBC Annex 80 "Resilient Cooling for Buildings", are ready to be used for different types of building adaptation and resilience studies to climate change and heatwaves.

Seasonal weather impacts wine quality in Bordeaux

Critics judge quality based upon subjective characteristics of wine. These judgments are converted by critics into quantitative scores, which allow for comparison of vintages. This paper uses high resolution discrete and continuous time-based weather estimates at both a local and regional level to determine the role of weather conditions on producing high quality Bordeaux vintages, as determined by critics scores. By using discrete-time weather variables across local AOCs, this study reveals climate-quality relationships across the whole year, including previously ignored season effects. By using continuous time weather variables, we reinforce the evidence for these local effects by finding higher quality wine is made in years with higher rainfall, warmer temperatures; and earlier, shorter seasons. We propose management impacts of our results and suggest that as the climate continues to change, the quality of Bordeaux wines may continue to improve.

Climate Change Risk and Vulnerabilities Analysis in Trieste SECAP

Climate change is affecting more and more local communities, which are now facing different hazards; in answer to this threat, specific actions at the local level should be taken. The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) is an initiative that tries to involve municipalities and communities in developing SECAPs, i.e., plans for sustainable energy and climate with the aim to develop adaptation and mitigation measures. In order to identify and evaluate hazards, the CoM developed a template relative to the current risk level and expected changes in the future. This paper develops a methodology to fill the template using a data driven approach instead of a heuristic one. The methodology was applied to the city of Trieste in northeast Italy and uses local weather station data and projections obtained from GCM-RCM models. Data were manipulated using different approaches for current risk levels and the Mann–Kendall test is proposed as a method to identify the future evolution of hazard intensity and frequency. The results showed that the developed approach could help municipalities in developing their SECAPs and in identifying the present and future evolution of hazards.