1. ABOUT THE DATASET -------------------- Title: Dataset for "Where air-conditioning is essential: weather station analysis of limits for passive cooling" Creator: Eric L. Peterson Organisation: School of Biology, University of Leeds   Rights-holder: Copyright 2026 Eric Laurentius Peterson Publication Year: 2026   Description: This repository supports the CIBSE Technical Symposium 2026 paper "Where air-conditioning is essential: weather station analysis of limits for passive cooling". The repository contains MATLAB code, derived station datasets, figures, and supporting documentation used to identify locations where passive cooling may become insufficient during hotter-than-normal years. Analysis is based on heat-stress classifications derived from meteorological stations using thresholds of shaded Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGTs) corresponding to white-flag and yellow-flag conditions. Materials include the derived "green-amber" subset of stations from a previous global analysis, updated comparisons against recent GSOD observations, and maps used in the paper.   Cite as: Peterson, E.L. (2026). Dataset for "Where air-conditioning is essential: weather station analysis of limits for passive cooling". University of Leeds. Dataset. DOI: 1846 Related publication: Peterson, E.L. (2026). Where air-conditioning is essential: weather station analysis of limits for passive cooling. CIBSE Technical Symposium 2026, Loughborough. Paper 119.   Contact: e.peterson@leeds.ac.uk 2. TERMS OF USE --------------- Copyright 2026 University of Leeds.   Unless otherwise stated, this dataset is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 3. PROJECT AND FUNDING INFORMATION ----------------------------------   Title: Climate adaptation, passive cooling, and overheating risk assessment. Dates: 2025-2026   Funding organisation: None. Grant no.: This dataset was not created as part of a funded research project. 4. CONTENTS ----------- readme.txt > This file.   Peterson26March2026.pdf > Conference paper: "Where air-conditioning is essential: weather station analysis of limits for passive cooling". MS119_Where_air_conditioning_is_essential_ELPeterson_26March2026.pdf > Presentation slides for CIBSE Technical Symposium 2026 Session 13. green_amber.m > MATLAB script used to identify green-amber stations from the previous global analysis and generate summary graphics.   green_amber.csv > Derived station subset selected using green_amber.m. Contains stations classified as "green-amber" according to the WBGT-based criteria described in the paper. green_amber.xlsx > Workbook comparing previous (1988-2020) and updated (1975-2024) analyses of NOAA/NCEI Global Summary of the Day observations. Includes supporting calculations, station matching, figures, and tables used in preparation of the paper. Globe_28Nov2025.png > Figure 1. Global map. ANZ_28Nov2025.png > Figure 2. Australia and New Zealand. Med_28Nov2025.png > Figure 3. Mediterranean region. EAsia_28Nov2025.png > Figure 4. East Asia. MidE_28Nov2025.png > Additional map of the Middle East.   USA_28Nov2025.png > Additional map of the United States and Canada.   Relationship to previous repository: The files green_amber.csv, green_amber.xlsx and green_amber.m utilise derived outputs from analysis of years 1987-2020 by Peterson, E.L. (2022). "Data associated with "Global and local bioclimatic predilections for rebalancing the heating and cooling of buildings". https://doi.org/10.5518/967 University of Leeds Dataset. Specifically, the MATLAB script uses RESULTSout.csv, RESULTSrates.csv and geography.csv from that repository as inputs. 5. METHODS ---------- The deposited dataset is a reanalysis and subset of a previously published global weather-station dataset. The original analysis used NOAA/NCEI Global Summary of the Day (GSOD) meteorological observations to calculate annual frequencies of shaded Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGTs) threshold exceedances for 16,582 weather stations worldwide. The MATLAB script green_amber.m imports station metrics from the 2022 dataset (global analysis 1987-2020), classifies stations according to WBGTs exposure thresholds, identifies the green-amber subset, and generates graphical outputs. The green-amber subset comprises locations where hotter-than-normal years were estimated to experience at least 10 white-flag WBGT days (WsD† ≥ 10) but fewer than 10 yellow-flag WBGT days (YsD† < 10). The workbook green_amber.xlsx extends this analysis using more recent GSOD observations through 2024 and was used to prepare tables and figures for the accompanying conference paper. Full methodological details are provided in: Peterson, E.L. (2026). Where air-conditioning is essential: weather station analysis of limits for passive cooling. CIBSE Technical Symposium 2026, 26 - 27 March, Loughborough University. Session 13: Overheating and Health Risk in a Hotter Climate: Weather Data, Cooling and Resiliance. https://www.cibse.org/knowledge-research/knowledge-resources/technical-symposium-papers/2026-technical-symposium-papers/ Follow the hyperlink "Where air conditioning is essential - Raising a red flag ten times - Eric Laurentious Peterson, University of Leeds Paper"