Climate classification for new and restored buildings in Andalusia: Analysing the current regulation and a new approach based on k-means

• Published in: Journal of Building Engineering 2021-11, Vol.43, p.102829, Article 102829
• Main Authors: Bienvenido-Huertas, David, Marín-García, David, Carretero-Ayuso, Manuel J., Rodríguez-Jiménez, Carlos E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Building; Climate zone; Cluster analysis; Energy inequalities; Spanish building technical code
• ISSN: 2352-7102; 2352-7102
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2021.102829

The Spanish Building Technical Code (CTE) sets that all new and restored buildings meeting its requirements have nearly zero energy consumption. This code is based on establishing limit values according to the climate zone. However, previous studies have shown both the existence of energy inequalities among regions and the limitations related to the direct application of these criteria. This work analyses the climate classification included in the CTE and presents a new climate classification methodology based on k-means. For this purpose, the region of Andalusia was chosen, and 8 case studies located in the 779 cities of the region were analysed. The analysis was performed in both the current scenario and future scenarios throughout the 21st century. The results showed the limitations related to the climate classification included in the CTE, greatly coinciding among the various zones and with high interquartile ranges in the energy demand distributions of each zone. By using the climate classification obtained with k-means, the new zones are independent of each other, with low interquartile ranges. •Between 35.815 and 49.936% of Andalusian towns are incorrectly classified by the CTE.•Climate change will increase the limitations of the climate zones included in the CTE.•The towns incorrectly classified were reduced between 0.128 and 7.702% with k-means.•Lower interquartile range with k-means in the building energy demand in each zone.