Updating the ASHRAE Climate Design Data for 2017 (RP-1699) (LB-17-007)

Under ASHRAE Research Project 1699 (RP-1699) we provide an update of the data used both in the “Climatic Design Information” chapter of the 2017 ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals and in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 169, “Weather Data for Building Design Standards”. A total of 8118 stations were successfully processed worldwide representing a 26% increase compared to 2013. Reported elements now include monthly average wind speed, wet bulb temperature return periods and monthly-average daily all-sky global horizontal solar radiation. A number of pre-screening and post-processing tools were developed in order to ensure a reliable and useful product.