Thermal Comfort Analysis

The research is to analyze and evaluate passive energy systems and their elements to provide implications in design. This project aims to develop sustainable design strategies for residential buildings in hot and dry climates. An existing traditional courtyard “Godal Baghche” in Iran is used to analyze the indoor thermal comfort without using mechanical heating and cooling systems. The simulation modeling technology is used to calculate the energy requirements of the building and to analyze the effectiveness of the natural ventilation systems along with other native design strategies in terms of thermal comfort.

A micro-climate data generation in courtyards is one of the main objectives, which involves a rigorous Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) process for the analysis of large scale fluid and heat behaviors. Also, a passive cooling system or earth-tube system (Earth-Air Heat Exchanger, EAHX) is integrated into the simulation modeling along with natural ventilation and evaporative cooling systems. The numerical analysis to evaluate the performance of EAHX is another challenge in this study. Thermal performance is also measured using portable data loggers as part of validating the simulation models.

As the features and the functional principles of this architecture are scrutinized, architects can integrate them in today’s design practice to extract their potentials in accordance with modern lifestyle. For this purpose, this study is based on a research, which is carried out for the hot and dry climates of Iran, exploring sustainable characteristics of a traditional house in Kashan as a case study. The central courtyard, “Godal Bbaghche” and wind catcher (Ba’ad gir) are examples of climate-responsive elements. In order to cover most aspects of these elements, this research identifies, analyzes and assesses them objectively, systematically, and scientifically.