Determination of Optimum Envelope of Religious Buildings in Terms of Thermal Comfort and Energy Consumption: Mosque Cases

Ahmet Bircan Atmaca,Andreas Wagner,Gülay Zorer Gedik

doi:10.3390/en14206597

Ahmet Bircan Atmaca, Andreas Wagner + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en14206597

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Abstract

Mosques are quite different from other building types in terms of occupant type and usage schedule. For this reason, they should be evaluated differently from other building types in terms of thermal comfort and energy consumption. It is difficult and probably not even necessary to create homogeneous thermal comfort in mosques’ entire usage area, which has large volumes and various areas for different activities. Nevertheless, energy consumption should be at a minimum level. In order to ensure that mosques are minimally affected by outdoor climatic changes, the improvement of the properties of the building envelope should have the highest priority. These optimal properties of the building envelope have to be in line with thermal comfort in mosques. The proposed method will be a guide for designers and occupants in the design process of new mosques or the use of existing mosques. The effect of the thermal properties of the building envelope on energy consumption was investigated to ensure optimum energy consumption together with an acceptable thermal comfort level. For this purpose, a parametric simulation study of the mosques was conducted by varying optical and thermal properties of the building envelope for a temperature humid climate zone. The simulation results were analyzed and evaluated according to current standards, and an appropriate envelope was determined. The results show that thermal insulation improvements in the roof dome of buildings with a large volume contributed more to energy savings than in walls and foundations. The use of double or triple glazing in transparent areas is an issue that should be considered together with the solar energy gain factor. Additionally, an increasing thickness of thermal insulation in the building envelope contributed positively to energy savings. However, the energy savings rate decreased after a certain thickness. The proposed building envelope achieved a 33% energy savings compared to the base scenario.

Highlights

Mosques are religious buildings used at different times of the day, with varying user densities and types and where many people can worship at the same time
In order to improve the thermal properties of the building envelope while being provided with the thermal comfort of the indoor environment, the common application is the use of a double-triple glazing window and a thermal insulation material
Within the scope of this purpose, the building envelope proposals of the mosques with different optical and thermal properties in the temperate humid climate were scripted through the simulation program

Summary

Introduction

Mosques are religious buildings used at different times of the day, with varying user densities and types and where many people can worship at the same time. An effort has been made to reduce the energy consumption load of buildings with active design parameters and by developing technological facilities [11,12]. Istanbul was chosen Characteristics as the locationand of Determination the mosque used in the simulations. IstanIstanbul was chosen as the location of the mosque used in the simulations. It is in located bul is °C in winter, in spring, and in summer. The yearly mean number in the temperate humid climate zone. Yearly mean relative is 72.5% [39].days The in 15.9 ◦ is Cin spring, and

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