The article aims to substantiate the role of the patio and its effect on thermal comfort in urban housing, especially in the semi-arid climatic zones of Algeria. In semi-dry cities, the aim is always to avoid direct sunlight and to seek shade and freshness in the summer season. Indeed, the patio is one of the bioclimatic architectural devices that responds to the field of indoor thermal environments and contributes to the creation of comfortable atmosphere. In this study, authors tried to assess the impact of patio geometry on thermal comfort inside housing in the semi-arid climate of Oum El Bouaghi. The study is based on the method of mathematical modeling implemented in the program ECOTECT. It evaluates the impact of the proportional coefficient H/L (height/width) on the value of PMV (Predicted Mean Vote), and PPD (Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied). The results of this study show that the patio plays an important role in thermal comfort in urban housing. The patio significantly improves the PMV value and reduces the PPD value, increasing sunlight in winter and providing passive space cooling in summer. However, for optimal thermal comfort, the proportional H/L value must be greater than 2.5.
Outdoor thermal comfort conditions during summer in a cold semi-arid climate. A transversal field survey in Central Anatolia (Turkey)
