Evaluation of environmental comfort in a social housing prototype with bioclimatic double-skin in a tropical climate

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to broaden understanding of the social housing prototype that students and researchers at the University of Seville developed in response to tropical climate conditions to achieve the maximum level of hygrothermal comfort through the use of passive retrofit strategies.This prototype, known as Aura 1.0, was presented at the Solar Decathlon competition where hygrothermal conditions inside the prototype were monitored over a ten-day period. Nevertheless, as the monitoring period of the environmental conditions was so reduced, the aim of this research is to assess the environmental behaviour of the prototype for a full year, under tropical climate conditions. To do so, energy and environmental simulation instruments will evaluate the performance of the architectural proposal and its passive construction systems, in particular the double skin designed with different objectives (architectural, construction, socio-economic).The simulation model has been verified by the data monitored during the exhibition phase and the performance of the building. Various hypotheses have been analysed which demonstrate that employing a double skin in the dwelling contributed to improving interior thermal comfort, especially in the roof area as opposed to the facades, given the sun's path at a latitude close to the equator.