A Comparative Study of the Thermal Comfort of Different Building Materials in Sana’A (original) (raw)
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civil engineering and architecture horizon publishing, 2020
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Building materials are among the basic factors that must be relied upon in the building's access to thermal comfort. The paper examines thermal behaviour of both traditional and modern materials used for buildings. It took a slight investigation using a computer software (Ecotect) to exam the thermal behaviour of both traditional and modern materials using one model located in Darnah city in east north where the climate is following the elements of the Mediterranean climate. This has been done trying to come up with comparative cases and prove that, the traditional materials works better with this type of climate and environment at many points such as, improve indoor thermal comfort and energy consumption as well as highlight a guidelines for designers of new buildings to start using the healthier materials for human comfort.
A comparative study of the thermal comfort by using different building materials in Gaza city
This study compares between different alternatives of construction in Gaza city. This comes for proposing a new approach of using available construction materials to improve the thermal resistance of the building and to minimize energy losses. Using available materials with different detailed techniques, the focus was on three systems applied on the residential construction in Gaza city. Common materials used in building envelope such as stone, hollow block and plaster are combined together in different ways to form three systems of building envelope. After thorough on-site investigation and data collection, the information along with regional weather data, was input into the Ecotect energy simulation software for thermal performance evaluation. The breakdown analysis of passive gains indicates that the majority of heat losses occurs via conduction heat transfer (building fabric). This study found that using 5cm air gap in exterior walls saves 50% of energy required to maintain comfortable temperature inside the home. Current study demonstrates how a building envelope reacts significantly to outdoor conditions through graphic illustration. In addition, it shows ways for the research to be extended by the creation of simulations using Ecotect software. This research contributes to the promotion of passive and low energy architecture towards a sustainable future.
Examining the Thermal Performance of Vernacular Houses in Asir Region of Saudi Arabia
AEJ - Alexandria Engineering Journal, 2019
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Thermal performance and comfort of vernacular earthen buildings in Egypt and Portugal.pdf
Despite the far distance between Portugal and Egypt, it was possible to find points of similarity on the influence of Roman and Arab cultures, and on solar passive and construction techniques used in vernacular architecture. Earthen construction techniques are one of these examples, being used in both countries for thousands of years. Through an explanatory qualitative and quantitative analysis, this paper presents an overview of the effects of climate-responsive strategies on thermal performance and indoor comfort of earthen architecture from Northern Egypt and Southern Portugal. To understand the effectiveness of these strategies, measurements of hygrothermal parameters and surveys on occupants' thermal sensation were conducted in two case studies. From the results, it has been found that the case studies have shown a good thermal performance only by passive means and that the occupants expressed as being comfortable. Thus, vernacular passive strategies still can contribute to achieve indoor comfort conditions and reduce the dependency on mechanical systems.
Journal of Ecological Engineering, 2019
This research presents a comparison study between the vernacular architecture represented by the heritage houses (Fallahy Houses) and the typical contemporary houses in Umm Qais city in the northern part of Jordan, in terms of thermal performance. It analyzes the parameters of the heritage houses to explore the impact on the human thermal comfort and energy consumption compared with the typical modern houses. The study investigates the performance of the vernacular houses and how they respond to the physical and climatic conditions. It also shows how these houses depend on passive design to control solar gains, and decrease heating and cooling loads keeping a good level of thermal comfort inside. The study compares these vernacular houses with the traditional contemporary house in Umm Qais. The selected samples from each type of houses were taken to evaluate the impact of the vernacular principles of design, building construction and materials on the thermal performance and the ther...
The Journal of Engineering Research [TJER], 2022
The settlement of Dana in Jordan is undergoing dramatic and rapid changes. The rehabilitation project launched by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) provided new tourist accommodation within the settlement, in a way that preserves its unique vernacular character. This has involved the repair and transformation of existing dwellings as well as the rebuilding of those that have been demolished. Currently, the original and rebuilt buildings stand side by side, offering a unique opportunity to compare their thermal performance. This comparison is essential to understand the impact of new construction materials and opening sizes on the thermal performance of vernacular buildings. For this purpose, the thermal performance of rebuilt and original buildings was monitored in August 2019 and February 2020, representing the hot and cold seasons. The recorded data was interpreted statistically, aiming mainly to compare the results from the original rooms with those from the...
Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies, 2023
Adjusting indoor environment so as to provide thermal comfort is a matter of utmost importance in architecture. Despite the remarkable achievements so far made, the main challenge is to provide thermal comfort in buildings through minimum use of fossil fuels. In hot and dry climates, this is especially important during the hot period of the year. As the people in Sistan, a region in southeastern Iran characterized by a hot and dry climate, are from low-income families unable to afford any modern building materials and techniques, they resort to natural materials and adaptive techniques to achieve thermal comfort. This fact justifies inquiring into the effect of the local vernacular architecture, which relies on natural materials and indigenous climate adaptation techniques, on thermal comfort and energy saving. Accordingly, this study aimed at analyzing natural materials and adaptive techniques and their roles in providing summer thermal comfort in indoor spaces of the region. To this end, a typical building was selected while identifying the dominant types of vernacular architecture in Sistan. Quantitative analysis was then conducted to analyze the roles and effects of natural materials-based adaptive techniques like Dorche, Kolak and Khaarkhaneh1 , which help provide thermal comfort in specific situations. In light of the obtained results, indoor environmental parameters of the regional vernacular architecture fail to meet the thermal comfort zone in very hot days. However, adaptive techniques hinging on natural materials and ventilation has the potential to make indoor thermal parameters tolerable at different times of the day in such periods. This will result in residents’ increased thermal comfort, which will in turn reduce the amount of energy consumption.
Journal of Energy Storage, 2021
Recently, a numerous number of houses has been built using AAC materials, which consume the most amount of energy in the building sector by Heating, ventilation, and airconditioning (HVAC) systems. Thus, the most significant factor affecting the energy consumed by HVAC systems is the materials used in the building. Building models are important tools in determining the energy efficiency of buildings. Numerous strategies have been established to construct building models, such as the weight, gray, and black boxes, as well as hybrid models. Hybrid models have not been researched extensively, although they provide a reasonable representation of actual indoor conditions. Therefore, this study employs a hybrid calculation model for the analysis of physical and empirical correlations to evaluate thermal comfort in buildings, which reflects their energy consumption. The residential load factor (RLF) technique is adopted owing to its systematic organization and ease of use, which is achieved by dividing the model into submodels. The model is verified and validated by drawing a comparison with field measurements and the output obtained from ANSYS software. The actual field measurements and ANSYS outputs match the outputs of the proposed model; the results show small residual errors, indicating a well-defined model structure. The cost and energy savings of vernacular buildings and autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) (or low-cost) buildings have been highly debated in Basra city. Models of these two different building materials are simulated within the MATLAB/Simulink environment. Their results indicate that the vernacular building has the highest energy saving potential up to 47.83% over 24 h a day. These results provide an excellent argument to realize the benefits of vernacular buildings by reducing the dependency on powered cooling.