scholarly journals Thermal Comfort Improvement for Atrium Building with Double-Skin Skylight in the Mediterranean Climate

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2253
Author(s):  
Refaa Sokkar ◽  
Halil Z. Alibaba

Atria are added to buildings for their aesthetical, environmental, and economic benefits; the appropriate atrium design can enhance an atrium’s thermal performance and the adjacent spaces’ temperatures. However, inappropriate design decisions cause thermal discomfort and consequently, higher energy consumption. Since the Mediterranean climate has diverse climatic conditions around the year, a central atrium with a top-lit skylight is recommended, but during the summer period it can cause overheating, and the insertion of shading elements shrinks the lighting performance: thus, the atrium skylight design is supposed to improve thermal comfort without affecting the lighting level. This study investigated the improvement of thermal performance in the atrium building by the implementation of a double-skin skylight (DSS) to enhance the atrium thermal performance without shading. The research conducted computer simulations with Environmental Design Solutions (EDSL) Tas software sequentially. The study prepared various design strategies, and different proposals were tested and compared in terms of indoor temperatures, with reference to American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE-55). The implementation of DSS achieved an average of 77% comfort in working hours around the year with different opening percentages according to the outdoor conditions. Moreover, results show that changing the DSS glazing materials did not affect the thermal performance of the atrium.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6706
Author(s):  
Faezeh Bagheri Moghaddam ◽  
Josep Maria Fort Mir ◽  
Isidro Navarro Delgado ◽  
Ernesto Redondo Dominguez

The aim of this paper is to investigate the thermal performance of vertical gardens by comparing the thermal comfort of bare (glazed) and green façades in the Mediterranean climate. The proposal consists of applying a vegetation layer on a glazed façade that could control solar radiation and reduce indoor air temperatures. This study investigates the thermal performance of green façades of an office building in the Mediterranean climate. For this purpose, the Gas Natural Fenosa Office Building as a case study was simulated, that is located on a site next to the coastline in Barcelona. Dynamic building energy simulation was used to determine and assess indoor thermal conditions and, for this reason, the IES VE as a simulation tool has been utilized. Thermal comfort was assessed through the adaptive comfort approach and results were analyzed and presented in the terms of indoor comfort conditions during occupied hours. As a result, the article shows that applying a green façade as a vegetation layer caused a reduction in the internal and external façade surface temperatures, as well as the indoor air temperature of the workplace. Additionally, enhancing indoor comfort in summer is closely associated with reducing the external surface temperature. In winter, it also protects the exterior surface from the low temperature of the outside, and all of this greatly increases thermal comfort performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 208 ◽  
pp. 109641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanya Saroglou ◽  
Theodoros Theodosiou ◽  
Baruch Givoni ◽  
Isaac A. Meir

2013 ◽  
Vol 845 ◽  
pp. 472-476
Author(s):  
Harimi Djamila

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest on energy saving in building sector.Passive cooling is considered the best strategy for improving the indoor thermal conditions and comfortwith lowest cost energy usage. In air-conditioned era, however, many designers have fully forgotten that the main objective of building thermal comfort is not to cool the whole space but rather the resident of the building with the least energy consumption. This investigation is about discussing some of the available passive cooling strategies based on experimental investigations. Results from this study showed that building materialsaffect the indoorair temperature, which in turn willaffect the indoor thermal comfort. Design strategies more suitable under tropical humid climatic conditions were suggested.


2020 ◽  
pp. 174425912090624
Author(s):  
Shima Moolavi Sanzighi ◽  
Farzaneh Soflaei ◽  
Mehdi Shokouhian

This article focuses on evaluating thermal performance of different types of residential buildings in Mediterranean climate (Csa) of Iran. The aim is to identify the main design parameters in nine research cases, selected from three distinct periods of history with different architectural styles, and evaluating thermal performance of these buildings. To that end, a library study was carried out to identify the most influential passive design strategies and to highlight their impact on thermal comfort and energy efficiency of residential buildings. A field survey was conducted to determine the most common types of average-income houses in Csa climate of Gorgan, Iran, with a historical overview from 19th century to present. Nine buildings were selected to study from three different period of times including the years from 1850 to 1925, 1925 to 1979 and 1979 to present. A three-dimensional numerical model was developed to assess the impact of four main design parameters including orientation, geometrical properties, openings and materials on indoor thermal comfort for each case, using Design Builder commercial software package. The correlation between these design variables and thermal comfort was presented; the results reveal that the contemporary residential buildings are not designed as efficient as traditional houses in this area, in terms of passive energy saving techniques.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hardi K. Abdullah ◽  
Halil Z. Alibaba

Natural ventilation through window openings is an inexpensive and effective solution to bring fresh air into internal spaces and improve indoor environmental conditions. This study attempts to address the “indoor air quality–thermal comfort” dilemma of naturally ventilated office buildings in the Mediterranean climate through the effective use of early window design. An experimental method of computational modelling and simulation was applied. The assessments of indoor carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration and adaptive thermal comfort were performed using the British/European standard BS EN 15251:2007. The results indicate that when windows were opened, the first-floor zones were subjected to the highest CO2 levels, especially the north-facing window in the winter and the south-facing window in the summer. For a fully glazed wall, a 10% window opening could provide all the office hours inside category I of CO2 concentration. Such an achievement requires full and quarter window openings in the cases of 10% and 25% window-to-floor ratios (WFR), respectively. The findings of the European adaptive comfort showed that less than 50% of office hours appeared in category III with cross-ventilation. The concluding remarks and recommendations are presented.


2018 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
pp. 02051 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid El Harrouni ◽  
Mouhcine Ben Aicha ◽  
Rime El Harrouni

The traditional courtyard house of the Mediterranean Basin has been viewed as a complex regulating system that creates a microclimate which historically worked, and still works, in a passive way to provide acceptable thermal comfort in summer. The internal courtyard is generally described as a positive factor that can moderate extreme outdoor climatic conditions. However, some researches have shown that the courtyard could become a negative factor from the energy efficiency point of view. For this purpose, this paper is based on a research study exploring sustainable characteristics of Moroccan traditional housing and its climatic adaptation, delving into the Rabat-Salé case study. A traditional courtyard model is used as a case study to analyze the indoor thermal comfort without using mechanical heating and cooling systems. The thermal behavior of the rooms surrounding the courtyard is analyzed under a temperate and humid climate of Rabat-Salé medina. The simulation modelling is carried out to analyze the effectiveness of different parameters to improve the indoor climate during summer and winter, including the façade orientation, the air infiltration, the surroundings, the ceiling height, the walls and roof/ceiling insulation and the shading devices. Tools for climatic design, Mahoney’s tables, Givoni and Szokolay bio climatic diagrams have been also used to improve design strategies in terms of thermal comfort.


2020 ◽  
pp. 165-179
Author(s):  
T Saroglou ◽  
T Theodosiou ◽  
I. A. Meir

Tall buildings around the world are increasing at an accelerating pace. However, this fast-pace development is not in tandem with today’s environmental considerations towards reducing high carbon emissions, mainly relating to the building sector (close to 50% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions). The vast scale and energy demands of tall buildings call for an in-depth study of this building typology towards improving energy efficiency. An important consideration for lowering energy demands is the configuration of the building envelope that acts as the mediator between indoor and outdoor conditions, according to the climate and microclimate of the building’s location. Current architectural practices of fully glazed curtain wall envelopes make this relationship problematic, by resulting in high-energy loads for achieving thermal comfort. Over the last few years, a step forward towards energy efficiency is the use of a double-skin façade (DSF). Its application, however, is lacking consideration of the specific climatic conditions that will essentially result in an energy efficient design. Previous research revealed that the most energy efficient DSF in the Mediterranean climate is with LowE glazing as the outside DSF layer. Further studies on DSF cavity width for a hot climate, were in favour of wider cavities, as these reduce the high cooling loads that are associated with this climate. Additionally, simulations of an office building in the Mediterranean climate, confirmed that cooling energy is also present during winter (airtight DSF), suggesting for a more active DSF envelope design throughout the year. A further study is then conducted through simulations, where the DSF design alternates between an open / closed DSF, and comparisons are made in relation to DSF width, building height above ground, outdoor environmental conditions and interior thermal comfort, for further improving the energy efficiency of tall building design.


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Bensafi ◽  
Houari Ameur ◽  
Noureddine Kaid ◽  
Siamak Hoseinzadeh ◽  
Saim Memon ◽  
...  

AbstractThis study investigates the determining parameters of thermal comfort of office in an arid hot-arid environment of Bechar, located in the northwestern region of Algeria, in which the vertical walls of the room and the roof are subjected to solar irradiations and the floor is considered to be adiabatic. The solar flux is calculated by the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) method. The predicted results are validated against the experimental results of the meteorological station of the ENERGARID research laboratory at the University of Bechar (Algeria). The characteristics of the ambient air flow are performed by using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software (Fluent). The flow fields, thermal fields, and humidity are investigated. An elaborated computer program (with Delphi language) is utilized to evaluate the temperature–humidity coupling as the most essential factors of the thermal comfort. A significant impact of dynamic temperatures and humidity on thermal comfort has been observed, especially in this hot-arid environment. Besides, a considerable effect of the flow velocity has been remarked. From the obtained results and to provide the best thermal comfort in such arid regions, the range of air velocity inside the building is recommended to be between 0.2 m·s−1 and 0.3 m·s−1.


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