'Urban island' as an energy assessment tool: The case of Mouzaia, Algeria

Boukarta Soufiane,Berezowska-Azzag Ewa

doi:10.5937/jaes15-12951

Abstract

Residential buildings in Algeria are responsible for 41% of total country's energy consumption. In this study, a holistic approach has been adopted to analyze the building stock of a middle-sized city (Mouzaia) in Algeria according to their energy consumption. The purpose of this paper is to test the pertinence of the urban island scale as an energy assessment tool. This study is based on a statistical approach of the islands' typologies to single out a model able to estimate the energy load of a simple dwelling or for an island according to a set of indicators. Thus, Urban islands were clustered according to their geometrical and physical attributes that considers a large panel of indicators such as island's area, built-up area, compactness, porosity, land use, areal density, built density, solar admittance and the passive volume. The conclusion of this analysis shows the classification profiles of the building stock of Mouzaia according to their energy consumption with an accuracy level of 86%. Also, this model developed can be implemented to a GIS tool in order to identify within a large scale the different scenarios which could be adopted to reduce the energy load of dwellings.

Highlights

The recent data from APRUE [01] confirms that the residential sector is responsible of about 41% of the energy end use in Algeria
J.Bouyer [05], in his thesis, has performed a campaign of 2000 simulations by diversifying randomly a set of seven geometrical and physical indicators. (ii) Sampling approach: this method is based on a typology of building which are clustered according to a panel of indicators and every sample building is assigned by its energy performance index (EPI) (Kwh/m2)
The project Energy and Environment Prediction (EEP) proposes a typology based on an existing building stock which has been characterized by the heated area, façade area, age of the building and the glazing rate [13]

Summary

Introduction

The recent data from APRUE [01] confirms that the residential sector is responsible of about 41% of the energy end use in Algeria. Algeria like other countries in the world, has adopted a policy to reduce and control its energy consumption and to mitigate the GHG emissions This policy can be presented mainly within four adopted strategies: (i) A motivating strategy which encourages the use of more renewable energy by inhabitant to attain the objective of 40% and a decreasing of 27% the carbon emissions by 2030 [01, 04]. To reach this goal, the Algerian government funds 50 % of the total cost of installation of solar water heaters and 45% of the cost to convert cars to natural gas [01, 04]. The experience is not well supported by the medias; (ii) pilot project strategy: where a set of prototype buildings have been already tested.even if the built pilot projects have got an important insulation rate, the experience showed that there is a gap between research studies and the construction results

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion