The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is particularly concerning in Mediterranean zone, as climate changeand UHI scenarios foresee a fast growth of energy consumption for next years, due to the widespread ofair conditioning systems and the increase of cooling demand. The UHI intensity is thus a key variable forthe prediction of energy needs in urban areas.This study investigates the intensity of UHI in Barcelona (Spain), the densest Mediterranean coastalcity, and its impact on cooling demand of residential buildings.The experimental analysis is based on temperature data from rural and urban Weather Stations andfield measurements at street level. The maximum average UHI intensity is found to be 2.8¿C in winterand 1.7¿C in summer, reaching 4.3¿C at street level. Simulations performed with EnergyPlus indicatethat the UHI intensity increases the sensible cooling load of residential buildings by around 18%–28%,depending on UHI intensity, amount of solar gains and cooling set point.In the light of the results, the UHI intensity in Mediterranean context should be properly consideredin performing energy evaluations for urban contexts, since standard meteorological data from airportweather stations are not found to be accurate enough.Postprint (author's final draft

We present unprecedented datasets of current and future projected weather files for building simulations in 15 major cities distributed across 10 climate zones worldwide. The datasets include ambient air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, direct and diffuse solar irradiance, and wind speed at hourly resolution, which are essential climate elements needed to undertake building simulations. The datasets contain typical and extreme weather years in the EnergyPlus weather file (EPW) format and multiyear projections in comma-separated value (CSV) format for three periods: historical (2001–2020), future mid-term (2041–2060), and future long-term (2081–2100). The datasets were generated from projections of one regional climate model, which were bias-corrected using multiyear observational data for each city. The methodology used makes the datasets among the first to incorporate complex changes in the future climate for the frequency, duration, and magnitude of extreme temperatures. These datasets, created within the IEA EBC Annex 80 “Resilient Cooling for Buildings”, are ready to be used for different types of building adaptation and resilience studies to climate change and heatwaves.