scholarly journals The Significance of Occupants’ Interaction with Their Environment on Reducing Cooling Loads and Dermatological Distresses in East Mediterranean Climates

Author(s):  
Jihan Muhaidat ◽  
Aiman Albatayneh ◽  
Mohammed N. Assaf ◽  
Adel Juaidi ◽  
Ramez Abdallah ◽  
...  

Global endeavors to respond to the problems caused by climate change and are leading to higher temperatures inside homes, which can cause skin conditions (such as eczema), lethargy, and poor concentration; disturbed sleep and fatigue are also rising. The energy performance of buildings is influenced by interactions and associations of numerous different variables, such as the envelope specifications as well as the design, technologies, apparatuses, and occupant behaviours. This paper introduces simple and sustainable strategies that are not dependent on expensive or sophisticated technologies, as they rely only on the actions practiced by the building’s occupants (movable window shading, and nighttime natural ventilation) instead of completely relying on high-cost mechanical cooling systems in buildings located in the main Eastern Mediterranean climates represented in the country of Jordan. These low-energy solutions could be applied to low-income houses in hot areas to avoid health problems, such as dermatological diseases, and save a significant amount of energy. The final results indicate that window shading has significant potential in reducing the cooling load in different climate zones. Natural ventilation exhibits high energy-saving abilities in climates that have cool nights, whereas its abilities in hot climates where nights are moderate is limited.

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Nuno R. Martins ◽  
Peter J. Bourne-Webb

Building foundation piles can be used as heat exchangers in ground-source heat pump (GSHP) systems to provide highly efficient renewable heating and cooling (H&C). Unbalanced H&C loads lead to heat build-up in the ground, decreasing the system's overall performance. In this study, the introduction of natural ventilation (NV) has been examined to decrease cooling load imbalance in cooling-dominated buildings to improve system efficiency. Building energy simulations estimated the H&C loads for an office building in three Portuguese cities: Lisbon, Porto and Faro, yielding heating loads of 0.2–3.6 MWh/year and cooling loads of 260–450 MWh/year. Four renewable H&C technology scenarios were used to assess energy performance: (1) an air-source heat pump (ASHP) system; (2) a GSHP system utilizing energy piles; (3) hybrid ASHP-NV and (4) hybrid GSHP-NV. Over 50 years of operation, in Scenario (1) COP values of 2.45–2.55 (heating) and 3.62–4.15 (cooling) were obtained. In (2), COP values increased to 4.15–4.34 (heating) but fell to 3.36–3.79 (cooling), which increased annual final energy needs by 7–8%. Unbalanced cooling loads increased the ground temperature by 21–24 °C, which is unlikely to be acceptable. Compared to (1), introducing NV reduced cooling loads by 65–90% in Scenarios (3) and (4), with the final energy needs decreasing by 59–80% and 62–88%, respectively. A further benefit of the GSHP-NV hybrid is that the ground temperature increase was limited to 8‑12 °C. For cooling, the COP in (3) decreased compared to (1) (3.14–3.69), while in (4), COP improved to 3.45–6.10. This study concludes that hybrid GSHP-NV systems should be considered in some cooling-dominated scenarios.


Author(s):  
Mohd Firrdhaus Mohd Sahabuddin ◽  
Cristina Gonzalez Longo

Large migration from rural areas to urban areas like Kuala Lumpur has led to some implications for economic, social and cultural development. This high population has placed enormous demand on the existing housing stocks, especially for low-income groups.  However, some issues arise, one of which is overheated indoor air temperature. This problem contributes to the high-energy usage that forces huge sums of money to be spent on cooling the house by using mechanical equipment. Therefore, this study focuses on thermal comfort in social housing, and incorporates traditional values into its design to achieve a certain measurement of natural ventilation in a house. From the study, the carbon emission and energy consumption for an air-conditioned house is 67%, 66% higher than a naturally ventilated house. Therefore, this research has come up with a new typology design, which has a large exposed wall area and full-length openings on the opposite walls to increase cross ventilation. At the end of this research, the measurement of thermal comfort for a naturally ventilated building called ‘Air House’ has been identified.


Energy ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 521-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofiane Bahria ◽  
Madjid Amirat ◽  
Abderrahmen Hamidat ◽  
Mohammed El Ganaoui ◽  
Mohamed El Amine Slimani

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 3311
Author(s):  
Víctor Pérez-Andreu ◽  
Carolina Aparicio-Fernández ◽  
José-Luis Vivancos ◽  
Javier Cárcel-Carrasco

The number of buildings renovated following the introduction of European energy-efficiency policy represents a small number of buildings in Spain. So, the main Spanish building stock needs an urgent energy renovation. Using passive strategies is essential, and thermal characterization and predictive tests of the energy-efficiency improvements achieving acceptable levels of comfort for their users are urgently necessary. This study analyzes the energy performance and thermal comfort of the users in a typical Mediterranean dwelling house. A transient simulation has been used to acquire the scope of Spanish standards for its energy rehabilitation, taking into account standard comfort conditions. The work is based on thermal monitoring of the building and a numerical validated model developed in TRNSYS. Energy demands for different models have been calculated considering different passive constructive measures combined with real wind site conditions and the behavior of users related to natural ventilation. This methodology has given us the necessary information to decide the best solution in relation to energy demand and facility of implementation. The thermal comfort for different models is not directly related to energy demand and has allowed checking when and where the measures need to be done.


Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Hanae El Fakiri ◽  
Lahoucine Ouhsaine ◽  
Abdelmajid El Bouardi

The thermal dynamic behavior of buildings represents an important aspect of the energy efficiency and thermal comfort of the indoor environment. For this, phase change material (PCM) wallboards integrated into building envelopes play an important role in stabilizing the temperature of the human comfort condition. This article provides an assessment of the thermal behavior of a “bi-zone” building cell, which was built based on high-energy performance (HEP) standards and heated by a solar water heater system through a hydronic circuit. The current study is based on studying the dynamic thermal behavior, with and without implantation of PCMs on envelope structure, using a simplified modeling approach. The evolution of the average air temperature was first evaluated as a major indicator of thermal comfort. Then, an evaluation of the thermal behavior’s dynamic profile was carried out in this study, which allowed for the determination of the PCM rate anticipation in the thermal comfort of the building cell.


Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1515
Author(s):  
Radhouene Doggui ◽  
Hanin Al-Jawaldeh ◽  
Jalila El Ati ◽  
Rawhieh Barham ◽  
Lara Nasreddine ◽  
...  

The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is experiencing a nutrition transition, characterized by the emergence of overnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiencies. No previous study has comparatively examined nutrient intake in adults across countries in the EMR. This review examined the adequacy of nutrients in adults living in the EMR. Moreover, it analyzed the food balance sheets (FBS) for 1961–2018 to identify the trajectory of energy supply from macro-nutrients in the EMR. A systematic search was conducted from January 2012 to September 2020. Only observational studies were retained with a random sampling design. An assessment of the methodological quality was conducted. Levels of nutrient daily intake and their adequacy compared to the daily reference intake of the Institute of Medicine were reported across the region. No studies were identified for half of the region’s countries. Although nutrient energy intake was satisfactory overall, fat and carbohydrate intake were high. Intake of vitamin D, calcium, potassium, zinc, and magnesium were below that recommended. The analysis of the FBS data allowed for the identification of four linear patterns of trajectories, with countries in the EMR best fitting the ‘high-energy-supply from carbohydrate’ group. This systematic review warrants multi-sectorial commitment to optimize nutrient intake.


Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramadas Narayanan ◽  
Edward Halawa ◽  
Sanjeev Jain

Air conditioning accounts for up to 50% of energy use in buildings. Increased air-conditioning-system installations not only increase total energy consumption but also raise peak load demand. Desiccant evaporative cooling systems use low-grade thermal energy, such as solar energy and waste heat, instead of electricity to provide thermal comfort. This system can potentially lead to significant energy saving, reduction in carbon emissions, and it has a low dew-point operation and large capacity range. Their light weight, simplicity of design, and close-to-atmospheric operation make them easy to maintain. This paper evaluates the applicability of this technology to the climatic conditions of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, specifically for the residential sector. Given the subtropical climate of Brisbane, where humidity levels are not excessively high during cooling periods, the numerical study shows that such a system can be a potential alternative to conventional compression-based air-conditioning systems. Nevertheless, the installation of such a system in Brisbane’s climate zone requires careful design, proper selection of components, and a cheap heat source for regeneration. The paper also discusses the economy-cycle options for this system in such a climate and compares its effectiveness to natural ventilation.


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