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Secular trends in monthly heating and cooling demands in Croatia

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Abstract

This paper analyzes long-term heating and cooling trends for five locations in Croatia from 1901 to 2008 to assist in the revision of Croatia’s heating and cooling energy policy. Trends in monthly heating degree-days (HDD) and cooling degree-days (CDD) were determined for three related temperature threshold values each and analyzed to provide insight into the influence of desired thermal comfort on the extent of changes in energy consumption. Monthly trends in the corresponding number of heating days (HD) and cooling days (CD) were also analyzed. A basic investigation of HDD, HD, CDD, and CD trends proved to be essential to the development of a complete description of important climate-related conditions that impact energy demands associated with heating and cooling. In a few cases, the dependence of the trends on the implemented temperature thresholds was rather pronounced and was reflected in great spatial and temporal variations in monthly trends. The statistical significance of the detected monthly trends illustrated a diverse range of possible impacts of climate changes on heating and cooling energy consumption both across and within three main climate regions in Croatia (continental, mountainous, and maritime). It is confirmed that the applied monthly scale for analyses is suitable for assessing heating and cooling practices.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank anonymous reviewers for their constructive and helpful comments. This research study was supported by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports (grant no. 004-1193086-3035).

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  1. Meteorological and Hydrological Service, Grič 3, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Lidija Cvitan & Renata Sokol Jurković

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  1. Lidija Cvitan
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  2. Renata Sokol Jurković
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Correspondence to Renata Sokol Jurković.

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Cvitan, L., Sokol Jurković, R. Secular trends in monthly heating and cooling demands in Croatia. Theor Appl Climatol 125, 565–581 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-015-1534-7

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