Estimation of degree-days for different climatic zones of North-East India

Efficient use of energy in buildings has become a necessity due to increasing heating and cooling energy demand. Degree-days are a versatile climatic indicator that can be used to estimate the heating and cooling energy requirement for a building. In this study, heating degree-days (HDD) and cooling degree-days (CDD) are estimated for warm and humid, cool and humid and cold and cloudy climatic zones of North-East India. The daily maximum and minimum temperature data are collected from Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati. The degree-days are calculated by using three different methods, i.e. ASHRAE formula, UKMO equations and Schoenau-Kehrig method for different base temperatures. It has been found that there is a variation in degree-days obtained from the above methods in the respective climatic zone and also varies from zone to zone. The degree-days are also estimated on hourly basis based on Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data for validation. Generalized equations are developed by using multiple linear regression technique to estimate the degree-days and those satisfied the statistical tests are proposed. The developed equations can be used to obtain degree-days of locations in same climatic zone for which daily temperature data are not available, with a fair accuracy. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.