Show more HighlightsSpatial distribution of cooling and heating days are identified in Iran. New temperatures and humidity threshold for cooling/heating degrees were determined. 14 representative weather stations for the period of 1995-2014 were used. Using Givoni chart we defined and visualized bioclimatic conditions in buildings. 18% of the 148 station days fall in the bioclimatic thermal comfort conditions. AbstractIran has diverse climate variability, comfort boundaries for each geographic region must be defined in order to present current architectural design recommendations and proper mechanical systems design to meet building's heating and cooling energy demand. Therefore, two components of the temperature and relative humidity of 148 stations with the longest common statistical period of twenty years , which have been in daily scale were selected to calibrate and redefine the thermal boundary conditions in Iran. Givoni chart was used to define and visualize the bioclimatic conditions in buildings. The results of this study indicate that only 18% of the 148 stations days, falls in the thermal comfort bioclimatic conditions. After calibration of the base comfort temperature, we found that the upper threshold of this component varies from at least 22.62 °C for Ardebil to 25.94 °C for Dorudzan station and the low threshold of this component belongs to Ardebil with at least 20.13 °C up to its maximum value with 22 °C which belongs to Dorudzan. Spatial distribution of cooling and heating days show that their maximum threshold has been for cores in Northeastern half of Iran, Iran's Western half and some Central parts of Iran and the minimum threshold of these two components belongs to the beaches of north and south of the country. The findings present updated thermal comfort boundaries that can be used by architects, engineers and policy makers to achieve, in turn, more energy efficient homes and high quality indoor and outdoor living environments. KeywordsClimate diversity; Bioclimatic chart; Heating and cooling degree days; Weather stations; Climate responsive design; IranChoose an option to locate/access this article:

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Defining and determining climatic zones accurately is crucial to inform the decision making of building designers and planners during early design phases of urban development. Characterizing the climatic zones allows estimation of energy requirements in buildings and develop climate adapted energy polices. Climatic zones can be defined by using the statistical cluster analysis. Data from weather stations can be used after standardization with zero mean and unit variance, to confirm that all variables are weighted equally in the cluster analysis. In this paper, a novel atlas for 19 climatic zones is presented that represent a variety of bioclimatic design strategies and recommendations, for passive design, based on a clustering analysis in Iran. The clustering analysis is based on the statistical analysis of daily temperature and relative humidity from 1995 to 2014. The results visualize 19 different climate zones for Iran and indicate the dominance of passive design strategies. As a result, Iran was divided into eight climatic clusters. The results showed that each of the studied clusters require specific strategies in providing indoor comfort. The outputs of this study shed the light on the importance of up-to-date climate characterization and the effectiveness of climate mapping and recommendations to inform decision makers.

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