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Lastedited04Aug2014
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Coolingdegreedays
Coolingdegreedays(CDD)areusedtogiveanindicationoftheeffectofoutsideairtemperature
onbuildingenergyconsumptionduringaspecifiedperiodoftime.Theyrepresentthenumberof

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degreesandnumberofdaysthattheoutsideairtemperatureataspecificlocationishigherthan

Comfortinlowenergybuildings.

aspecifiedbasetemperature(orbalancepoint).Thisgivesanindicationofhowmuchcoolingwill

Computationalfluiddynamics.

berequiredinthebuilding.

Energytargets.
Heatstress.

Thebasetemperatureofabuildingisthetemperatureabovewhichitneedscooling,whichwill
dependonthebuildingtypeanduse.

Soforexample,ifthebasetemperatureis21degrees,andtheoutsideairtemperatureis30
degreesforeighthours(onethirdofaday),thenthatrepresents3coolingdegreedays((3021)x

Heatingdegreedays.
Passivebuildingdesign.
Postoccupancyevaluation.
Solargain.

1/3=3).

Addingupthecoolingdegreedayscangiveaweekly,monthlyorannualfigure.

Featuredarticlesandnews

Coolingdegreedayscanbefoundforlocationswithpubliclyavailablemeteorologicaldataandso
itisnecessarytolocateanaccurateweatherstation,withgoodhistoricaldataclosetothesite

Buildingoftheweek

beinginvestigated,orincircumstancessimilartothesitebeinginvestigated.Weatherstation
datasuchasthatavailablefromairportsisoftenconsideredtobethehighestquality.

WebsitessuchasDegreeDays(http://www.degreedays.net/)Netcanbeusedtocalculate
coolingdegreedaysforagivenlocationandbasetemperature.

Dataisalsoavailabletoallowcalculationofheatingdegreedaysrepresentingthenumberof
degreesanddaystheoutsidetemperatureisbelowthebasetemperatureandgrowingdegree
days,basedonthetemperaturerangewithinwhichplantswillgrow.

Heatingandcoolingdegreedayscanbeusedtohelpassessorcomparedifferentpotentialsites
fordevelopment.Theycanalsobeusedasawayofnormalisingweatherbetweendifferentsites,

Oneofthelargestchurchesintheworld,the

allowingcomparisonoftheperformanceofdifferentbuildings,orfornormalisingweatherbetween

monumentalSt.Peter'sBasilica.

differentyearstoassessthechangeinperformanceofabuilding.

However,despitebeingaverysimpleconcept,theyaredifficulttouseeffectivelyinpractice,

Thermalcomfortandwellbeing

anddonotalwaysprovideaneffectivewayofinfluencingdesigndecisions.Therecanbe
difficultyseparatingoutheatingandcoolingenergyconsumptionfromoverallenergy
consumption,andheatingandcoolingrequirementsareinfluencedbyotherfactorssuchas

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Cooling_degree_days

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1/19/2017

CoolingdegreedaysDesigningBuildingsWiki

otherheatsources(includingpeople,lighting,equipmentandsolargain),thermalmass,thermal
insulationandsoon.Inaddition,heatingandcoolinginputstendtobeintermittentratherthan
continuous,andbuildingsarenotnecessarilyalwaysoccupied.

Itispossibletotakeaccountofthesemattersincalculationsandthroughtheuseofsub
metering,butthiscanbecomeaverycomplicatedprocess,basedonadeceptivelysimple
indicator.Theuseofdegreedaysshouldbetreatedwithcautionaspartofabroaderprocessof
analysis,providingageneralindicatorfororderofmagnitudeassessmentsratherthanfor
accurate,detailedcomparisons.

Howthermalcomfortisquantifiedandhowit
canaffectwellbeing.

Findoutmore
Treehotel
RelatedarticlesonDesigningBuildingsWiki
Comfortinlowenergybuildings.
Computationalfluiddynamics.
Energytargets.
Heatstress.
Heatingdegreedays.
Passivebuildingdesign.
Postoccupancyevaluation.
Solargain.
Temperature.
Thermalcomfort.
Thermalindices.
Thermalinsulation.
Urbanheatislandeffect.
Snhettacompleteatreehousecabinthat

Externalreferences
DegreeDays(http://www.degreedays.net/)Net.
EnergyLens,DegreeDaysHandlewithcare(http://www.energylens.com/articles/degree
days).

allowsgueststoliebeneaththeNorthern
Lights.

ArchitectureofChristiania
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Christianiaisananarchist'freetown'in
Copenhagenwherestrangeandexperimental
architecturehasflourished.

Improvingconstructionanddemolitiondata

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UKwastedataneedsimprovingsayBRE
specialists,inthissummaryoftheirreportinto
constructionwaste.

Regenerationjointventure

UandIannouncenewjointventurewithUS
developertoworkonofficerefurbishment
projects.

BSRIAresponsetoBrexitspeech

BSRIAgivecriticalresponsetoTheresa
May'sspeechonleavingtheEU.

Crackingandbuildingmovement

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Cooling_degree_days

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Whybuildingscrack,howcracksare
categorisedandwhatcanbedone.

Unusualbuildingoftheweek

Inauguratedlastweek,thenew
Elbphilharmonieconcertvenueasoaringnew
additiontoHamburg'sskyline.

Transportandglobalpoverty

SummaryofanewICETransportjournal
whichsaysimprovingtransportinfrastructure
isessentialtoeradicatingglobalpoverty.

Heatmetering

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BRElookatanewgovernmentreportintothe
accuracyofheatmeters.

Clickheretoseemorefeaturedarticlesand
news.

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