Impact of global warming on heating and cooling degree days in major Indian cities

Global warming induced rise in ambient temperatures would significantly impact the space heating and cooling (H/C) energy requirements in buildings. This investigation assessed the impact of global warming on space H/C energy requirements in eight major Indian cities covering all of the county's climate zones. By using historical weather records and general circulation model outputs, we quantified the historical (1969-2017) and future (2018-2100) trends in annual mean temperatures together with heating and cooling degree days (HDDs and CDDs), which are well-known metrics for quantifying buildings' H/C requirements. The investigation demonstrated that annual temperatures would be higher by 0.11.1 degrees C in the 2020 s, by 0.6-2.8 degrees C in the 2050 s, and by 1.0-4.6 degrees C in the 2080 s, depending on the city and the emission scenario. Due to rising temperatures, CDDs would also increase by 2.9-22.9% in the 2020 s, by 8.3-54.1% in the 2050 s, and by 11.89-83.0% in the 2080 s; thus, increasing the cooling requirements by a similar amount. In contrast, HDDs would decrease by 8.1-30.3% in the 2020 s, by 17.6-83.3% in the 2050 s, and by 19.3-97.1% in the 2080 s, thereby reducing the heating requirements. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.