Abstract
In Pakistan, reinforced concrete frame houses are the most widely used and common construction technology. In a country that experiences extreme hot and cold seasons throughout the year, buildings need to be adaptable to the climate to improve the thermal comfort of the inhabitants. Therefore, the aim of this study was to improve thermal comfort in reinforced concrete frame houses using passive design and energy efficiency measures in Quetta, Pakistan. Thermal comfort of a representative house was investigated using a building performance simulation. The building model created in EnergyPlus was validated by comparing it with on-site monitored data in both summer and winter seasons. The model was calibrated using statistical methods. Then, the calibrated model was used to perform a whole year simulation in which various orientations, ventilation, passive design, and energy efficiency strategies were applied to perform parametric analysis for the improvement of thermal comfort. The best fit-to-context thermal comfort model was selected, and the potential of bioclimatic design strategies was quantified. The results indicate that by adopting passive design strategies comfort hours can be increased from 43% to 59%. The results of the study revealed many findings which could be useful for architects and building engineers to set a future direction for improvement of indoor comfort in Quetta as well as in many other areas of Balochistan Province in Pakistan.
Highlights
Pakistan is a large country with a rapidly growing population of more than 207 million inhabitants in 2017 [1]
The residents mainly rely on fans and personalized heating and cooling units for indoor thermal comfort
Considering this situation, a representative single-storey reinforced concrete frame (RCF) house was selected for this study based on the most common typology, construction techniques, building materials, and characteristics of the households
Summary
Pakistan is a large country with a rapidly growing population of more than 207 million inhabitants in 2017 [1]. According to the estimates of the United Nations Population Division, by 2025 nearly half of the country’s population, currently 38 percent, will live in urban areas [2]. This increasing population has brought several challenges and socio-economic problems. The provision of adequate housing remains a challenge in Pakistan where the total backlog of housing units is between 9–10 million units [3], and the housing backlog in urban areas is 3.5 to 4 million units [4]. The gap is increasing by 0.4 million units per year [5]
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