ASHRAE climate zones by ZIP code?

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sdcanuck's picture
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Dominique,
ASHRAE climate zones are defined at the county level in the U.S., as shown in Table B-1 of Standard 90.1. Since ZIP codes can cross county lines, it would be problematic to create a file to match climate zones with ZIP codes.
Regards,
Bill

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Have you looked at what Bob Fassbender has done at http://energy-models.com/tools/climatezoner ?

Before: Find the location of your project and Google it to get the county. Then, get out ASHRAE 90.1-2007, tediously look up climate zone. Get paper cut.

Now: Get your LEED Climate Zone in one step! Use the Energy Models ClimateZoner? and avoid paper cuts.

All you need is an address OR city, or both, plus the state, or just a zip code.

Kim E Shinn, PE, LEED Fellow, CxA, BEMP
Principal/Senior Sustainability Wizard
TLC Engineering for Architecture
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615-394-4297

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Dominique,
I also undertook the same quest about a year and a half ago when I discovered (from speaking to some ASHRAE and DOE folks) that climate zones in the US are assigned by county. ASHRAE Standard 169 sets climate zones based on historical weather patterns but they are assigned by county.

I came up with approximately 3,200 counties and 33,120 zip codes in the US (it depends on what US territories you?re counting). Unfortunately there are many zip codes that straddle more than one county so it?s not a direct translation. I counted 1,413 zip codes in the US that overlap counties with different climate zones (see attached pivot table). So this makes looking up climate zone by zip code challenging if the project is located near a climate transition region.

You may be aware, but the ASHRAE climate zones are changing a bit as of the publication of 169-2013. I?m not aware of any published ASHRAE standards that have adopted the 2013 climate zones but the change will come in the next couple of years. The climate zone changes did not make it into 90.1-2013 but my understanding is that they will by the time 2016 is published (I know there are SSPC 90.1 people on this list, has this reference been adopted yet?). So the 169-2006 climate zone assignments are likely the ones that you?re familiar with. I?ve attached both county assignment lists in case you?re interested.

Also, I?m not sure if you?re interested in California and Title 24, but California assigns specific state climate zones by zip code. I?ve included these assignments in an attachment as well. There are 1,702 counties in California according to the CEC I found.

Be aware when dealing with counties: if you want to turn these into lookups or pulldowns, the naming conventions (i.e. spelling and punctuation) between US federal census data and climate zone data are not entirely perfect and may require some cleaning up. Things as simple as which letters are capitalized or whether compound names have a dash can case issues.

I hope this is helpful, good luck!

Scott P. West, P.E., LEED AP BD+C, BEAP, BEMP | JACOBS | Mechanical Engineer | Energy & Power Solutions | 817.222.8512 office | 817.897.1882 cell | scott.west at jacobs.com | www.jacobs.com | www.jacobs.com/energyportfolio

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All,

As Scott points out, zip code translation to climate zone is essentially
impossible to do with complete accuracy.

A couple of additional points

1. Zip code definitions can change. ?The USPS defines zip codes for its
purposes and those do not include climate zone definitions. ?I know
this because at my former address, the zip code was modified. ?Don't
know how common this is, but it happens.

2. To my knowledge, the California climate zones are NOT defined in
terms of zip codes. ?There is a legal definition based on counties
and/or jurisdictions. ?The California Energy Commission staff created
a zip code lookup for convenience. ?I believe their lookup is not
perfect, for all the same reasons.

--
Chip Barnaby
chipbarnaby at gmail.com

> Dominique,

assigned by county.? ASHRAE Standard 169 sets climate zones based on historical weather patterns but they are assigned by county.?

zip codes that straddle more than one county so it?s not a direct translation.? I counted 1,413 zip codes in the US that overlap counties with different climate zones (see attached pivot table).? So this makes looking up climate zone by zip code challenging
if the project is located near a climate transition region.?

adopted the 2013 climate zones but the change will come in the next couple of years.? The climate zone changes did not make it into 90.1-2013 but my understanding is that they will by the time 2016 is published (I know there are SSPC 90.1 people on this list,
has this reference been adopted yet?).? So the 169-2006 climate zone assignments are likely the ones that you?re familiar with.? I?ve attached both county assignment lists in case you?re interested.?

in an attachment as well.? There are 1,702 counties in California according to the CEC I found.

federal census data and climate zone data are not entirely perfect and may require some cleaning up.? Things as simple as which letters are capitalized or whether compound names have a dash can case issues.?

Mechanical Engineer?|

across such a file??

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