Effect of Traditional Persian Materials and Parametric Design on the Thermal Performance of a Generic Building in Mediterranean Climate

Abstract

Concerns related to buildings’ green-house emissions in recent years lead to the increase of architectural adaptation to local environment. While passive conditioning strategies emphasising natural ventilation are common alternatives to achieve indoor comfort in hot and humid climate, they are not widely used in temperate climates. In this context, this paper presents a computer simulation study carried out through Archsim plug-in of Grasshoper/Rhinoceros. The object of study consists of a single family housing unit (flat) with an area of 31.25 m2 and a height of 2.80 m, with one user, under naturally ventilated conditions. As a reference case, the model used the climate of the city of Yazd in Iran and the simulations assessed parameters such as window-to-floor area ratios of 10% and 20%, as well as the thermal transmittance of exterior walls, considering an envelope with insulation materials, as a common European configuration, and an envelope with Persian materials, such as adobe. Two different Mediterranean climates, Palermo and Valencia, were investigated and the influence of these parameters at the building thermal performance was evaluated using cooling and heating degree-hours indicator, using as thermal comfort limits the Operative Temperature criteria established by ISO 7730. Using Persian materials at the model envelope increased its thermal inertia, thus reducing the temperature variation in the internal environment and improving its interior comfort, especially during the warmest seasons.