Health implications of conventional planning/design strategies on occupants of contemporary residential buildings in the hot-humid tropical environment

Author(s):  
Chuba O. Odum ◽  
A. M. Ezezue
Author(s):  
Maryam Khatibi

The study presents the results of typological analysis and simulation modeling analysis of traditional courtyard residential houses in the cold semi-arid climate of Iran. The purpose of the research has been to analyze and evaluate traditional passive environmental strategies and their elements to provide implications for the design of sustainable residential buildings in contemporary time. Five existing traditional courtyard houses in the city of Tabriz, Iran, are used as case-studies to analyze the typology and the solar zoning conditions and to develop simulation models. The Ecotect simulation program is used to calculate the solar gains of the buildings and to analyze the effectiveness of the natural passive systems along with native design strategies in terms of potential solar gains of main and secondary living spaces. However, in the vernacular, not only the awareness of the climatic and topological considerations is important, but also the values, rituals, and beliefs that shape the design of the dwellings need to be considered. The research is based on the hypothesis that vernacular buildings (courtyard houses) of Iran have been environmentally sustainable structures. However, an important challenge of the study has been to avoid the technological bias and to consider the cultural and social aspects and embodiment of the studied houses, as well. The study also addresses the potential shortcomings that limit the reliability of Iranian vernacular architecture at present in order to arrive at a more holistic understanding of the sustainability of the vernacular architecture in the country. 


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 237 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Soutullo ◽  
E. Giancola ◽  
M. J. Jiménez ◽  
J. A. Ferrer ◽  
M. N. Sánchez

Based on the European energy directives, the building sector has to provide comfortable levels for occupants with minimum energy consumption as well as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This paper aims to compare the impact of climate change on the energy performance of residential buildings in order to derive potential design strategies. Different climate file inputs of Madrid have been used to quantify comparatively the thermal needs of two reference residential buildings located in this city. One of them represents buildings older than 40 years built according to the applicable Spanish regulations prior to 1979. The other refers to buildings erected in the last decade under more energy-restrictive constructive regulations. Three different climate databases of Madrid have been used to assess the impact of the evolution of the climate in recent years on the thermal demands of these two reference buildings. Two of them are typical meteorological years (TMY) derived from weather data measured before 2000. On the contrary, the third one is an experimental file representing the average values of the meteorological variables registered in Madrid during the last decade. Annual and monthly comparisons are done between the three climate databases assessing the climate changes. Compared to the TMYs databases, the experimental one records an average air temperature of 1.8 °C higher and an average value of relative humidity that is 9% lower.


2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baizhan Li ◽  
Wei Yu ◽  
Meng Liu ◽  
Nan Li

Yangtze River Valley is situated within the Hot Summer and Cold Winter zone, and residents in this region of China would require HVAC system to alleviate thermal comfort conditions, although this is tempered by the Design Code (DBJ50-071-2007) for energy efficiency. A 1-year survey of about 200 residential homes was carried out in eight cities covering the breadth of the region. The acceptable temperature range for the residents in this area was 16.3—28.1°C and the thermal neutral temperature was found to be 27.6°C in summers and 17.5°C in winters. People in different area can vary in their adaptability and comfortableness. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the national comfort parameter introduced in the Code for Design of Heating and Ventilation and Air Conditioning (GB50019-2003). The results found that if air-conditioning system was set to 27.5°C instead of 26°C as required by GBJ19-87: Design Standard of Heating and Ventilation and Air Conditioning, a 16.5% saving of energy consumption could be achieved. The findings demonstrated the role of natural ventilation in the expansion of the thermal comfort zone for the residents, especially during the summer seasons. A climatic adaptability model has been established by this study to contribute to the passive climatic design strategies for a better economic and energy efficiency of buildings.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Abdulsalam A. Alshboul ◽  
Nabeel Y. Alkurdi

One of the fundamental parameters for low energy architecture strategies implementations is to allow solar sun penetration into buildings, which can contribute to free heating in buildings and reduce energy consumption during cold season; through many design strategies that could be applied to buildings. This is not easily achieved until a complete analysis of solar accessibility is done, which in turn enables us to decide whether such strategies are applicable or not. Amman city is a case where such analysis is a must due to the problems of fuel scarcity and high fuel costs as well. In addition, the topographical nature of Amman city is not plain; rather it is almost mountainous, which makes it important to ensure solar accessibility on slope sites. Much of modern apartments in Amman were built on sloped sites. Method of research will depend on selected cases for solar radiation quantification for a number of cases including mainly modern residential buildings built on slope sites; this method will depend mainly on graphical analysis for solar penetration (INSOLATION) and theoretical calculations for the different cases. Calculations of solar radiation were based on measured global irradiation, they were calculated for the under heated period for Amman; then a strategy were built to derive new set back values. Recommendations will be as a set of rule of the thumb for direct application for the practicing architect, and they are reflected as new setback values between buildings. It will be the first step towards a complete set of regulations to ensure solar accessibility to buildings constructed on slope sites in Amman city and for other regions of similar slopes, looking for the target of maximizing solar radiation availability for minimizing fossil fuel consumption as an introduction to the study of sustainable buildings in Jordan.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Hala Ali Abdulrazaq ◽  
Manuel Correia Guedes

The damage of architecture in Iraq has been caused by a series of wars during the last four decades. The last conflict against the Islamic State from 2014 to 2017 caused severe destruction to the buildings in seven governorates, namely: Nineveh, Baghdad, Anbar, Babel, Kirkuk, Diyala, Salah Aldeen. three years after the Iraqi government has announced liberation, the cities are still covered by tons of rubble and thousands of people are still staying in camps. Several international humanitarian organizations are providing urgent assistance to help some local people to rebuild their homes. This paper presents initial results of an ongoing PhD research, which focuses on the role of architectural design in the postwar reconstruction in Iraq. It addresses an architectural damage assessment of the Post-War in the Old City of Mosul, after liberation from ISIS in 2017. The damage assessment focuses the residential buildings as it is the most affected sector and the most needed to start re-building. As rubble is the main obstacle for the residents besides that it's the first step for the recovery, this paper studies the scale of destruction to determine the quantity and quality of rubble in this historic city. Thus, it presents the current actions taken by locals and examines the government movements towards rubble management. Results show that, the unguided strategy of rebuilding is inefficient causing more damage to the environment and there is no comprehensive plan to protect historic buildings with a high heritage. The aim of this paper is to provide basic guidelines and recommendations for preventing further destruction to the heritage of the Old City.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Han ◽  
Daping Liu

The objective of this study was to understand the development of Chinese contemporary architectural discourses and analyze the comfort of the 156 projects residences to help improve the sustainable planning and design of today’s urban residential buildings. With a literature review, we described the formation and evolution process of the Soviet Union socialist realism architectural discourses that initially and deeply influenced urban residence in Northeast China and revealed the input channel and localization process of Chinese socialist realism in residential projects. Through field measurement and investigation into the building design and construction from four aspects—building group planning, unit schema standardization design, facade aesthetics, and structural design—we comparatively analyzed results that indicated the design and construction in that era. The thermal environment was also simulated using analytical software to comprehensively evaluate heat loss and heat accumulation in the cases. Finally, three passive design strategies were discussed to improve the sustainability of residence in Northeast China.


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