You can use any EPW file containing 8760 hourly records in DesignBuilder. The data should ideally have the year set to 2002 (even if data wasn't recorded in that year) to ensure that days of the week are reported correctly in the graphic output.

You can add any existing EPW file to your DesignBuilder Hourly weather data database.

If you don't have the data in EPW format yet then it can be translated from a range of formats using the inbuilt DesignBuilder weather data translation tool or if the format is not supported then you can use the EnergyPlus translation tool that supports all weather formats. Obtain this from the EnergyPlus website. The documentation can be found in the Auxiliary Programs document.

It can be worth contacting EnergyPlus support about obtaining weather data for particular locations as they have a lot of contacts and sometimes can provide data that is not on the main website.

There is a video tutorial explaining the steps above which you may find useful.

Updated 14.03.2019