Many US Cities Saw Increase in Cooling and Moisture Loads in 2002

September 2003

Michael Kjelgaard, author of "The Weather Report" column in Engineered Systems magazine, reported that many cities in the United States exceeded average ASHRAE cooling load design conditions in 2002.

ASHRAE's design condition recommendations are based on long-term average weather data and are used to size space-conditioning equipment. According to predictions based on long-term weather data, ASHRAE's 0.4%, 1%, and 2% temperature design points for a given city should be exceeded on average by 35 hours, 88 hours, and 175 hours, respectively. In 2002, the duration of cooling conditions based on actual outdoor temperature data were significantly longer than would have been predicted by long-term weather data.

More Information: (PDF 59 KB) Download Acrobat Reader.

Printable Version