Thermal Behavior Assessment of Natural Stone Buildings in the Semi-Arid Climate
This paper aims to assess the effects of harsh climatic conditions’ interactions with natural stone on thermal inertia properties and the thermal performance of ancient residential buildings. As the type of stone differs, its thermo-physical components differ; therefore, its interactions with environmental factors vary. For this purpose, an experimental measurement was conducted on many buildings with different orientations in a semi-arid climate and validated by a simulation performed by the “EnergyPlus 9.3” software. Results showed that the important outdoor temperature gap between day and night influences the natural stone thermos-physical properties used in construction. The stone components affected by the thermal shock effect weathering are eroded over time, then saturated with water, and affect the thermal conductivity coefficient of stone; however, this directly changes the indoor thermal comfort and performance of buildings. Additionally, the high indoor relative humidity percentage and the absence of natural ventilation have an important influence on the ambient temperature values recorded. This paper discusses the experimental measurement results compared to the simulation results. KEYWORDS Thermal performance, building envelope, thermal inertia, limestone, Tébessa, Algeria