Improving the energy-efficient envelope design for Moroccan houses

Abstract

The building sector accounts for about 36% of final energy consumption in Morocco, with 29% reserved for residential and 7% for the tertiary sector. This energy consumption is expected to increase in view of major projects initiated and planned by the government in key sectors of the Moroccan economy. Thus, this article presents a dynamic energetic study for an individual house building located in Oujda city (Morocco) by using TRNSYS software. A typical meteorological year (TMY) corresponding to Oujda city was established and used to determine the required energy for obtaining the thermal comfort in winter and summer conditions. Special attention was paid to the effect of different parameters, such as insulation and thermal mass, colour of external surfaces, window type and area and shading on the annual required energy. Results show that annual heating required energy is reduced by 8.38% and the annual cooling required energy is reduced by 70.54% by using 6 cm of EPS thermal insulation to the outside of exterior walls. The window area plays an important role in building energy consumption in the Moroccan environment. A saving of 1.91% in annual required heating energy and 6% in annual cooling required energy for the base case house can be achieved by replacing the single glazing by double glazing.