Residential Building Typology Research Articles

Simulation Study of Thermal Comfort in Residential Building Types: The Case of Lokoja, Nigeria

Thermal comfort is an important factor for the design of buildings that offers comfortable indoor environment for the wellbeing of building occupants. There are several residential building typologies at different locations in the world. These includes bungalows, duplexes and block of flats. Despite previous studies on thermal comfort in Nigeria, there is a lack of research data on the performance of different building types, especially in terms of thermal comfort. Hence, this study evolved to investigate three popular types of residential buildings in Nigeria. The research outcome aims to provide data for theoretical evolution on the thermal behavior of these building types. The paper used dynamic thermal simulation, natural ventilation mode to analyze three residential buildings in Lokoja, Nigeria using hourly weather data for a period of 10 years. The simulation results showed that the annual operative temperature for the three cases were 33.360C, 33.620C and 33.650C. This revealed that there is no significant difference between the operative temperatures of the three case studies. However, there were marked differences between both the monthly and annual solar gains of the case buildings. The total annual gains for the three case studies were 24118.27kWh, 20497.90kWh, and 39493.09kWh. Although there was no significant difference in the performances of the case buildings, there performed differently in terms of both operative temperature and solar gains. The simulation results confirmed thermal discomfort in residential buildings in the study area. This calls for improvement in the design of residential buildings in the study area to enhance thermal comfort and reduce energy demand due to overdependence on mechanical cooling systems. This study has provided data that is expected to guide design professionals and other stakeholders in the building industry in their decisions regarding the thermal performance of residential building types in the study area and in similar climates.

Environmental benchmarking of building typologies through BIM-based combinatorial case studies

Integrated life-cycle assessment (LCA) tools have emerged as decision-making support for BIM practitioners during the design stage of sustainable projects. However, differences between methodologies applied for determining the environmental impact of buildings produce significant variations in the results obtained, making them difficult to be compared. In this study, a methodology is defined for generating environmental benchmarks for building typologies through a combination of BIM-based LCA tools and machine learning techniques. When applied to an 11-story residential building typology with 92 dwellings by varying the constructive solutions of façades, partitions, roof and thermal insulation materials, results fall within a range from 360 to 430 kgCO2eq/m2. The Random Forest (RF) algorithm is successfully applied for identifying the most decisive variables in the analysis (partitions and façades), and shows signs of being useful for predicting the environmental impact of future constructions and to be applied to the analysis of greater scale urban zones.

Influence of Thermal Enclosures on Energy Saving Simulations of Residential Building Typologies in European Climatic Zones

Nowadays, the computational simulation of the energy consumption in buildings is a key issue to determine the most proficient configuration between the construction solutions and the necessary equipment, without compromising comfort and accomplishing the legal requirements for each country. The feasible and most profitable solutions can lead to minimizing CO2 emissions and environmental impact. In this work, the internal enclosures influencing the evaluation of energy consumption by energy simulation have been analysed in order to obtain an accurate solution when all the information regarding the internal partitions is not available. The main aim of the present research was to evaluate the role of internal distribution in the simulations of the total building energy consumption. Differences between the results of the energy simulations of buildings that are calculated considering their internal distribution, and those in which only the exterior geometry that makes up the perimeter of the envelope are being described. In this way, it is intended to establish a correction factor based on the building typology and the European climate zone that allows simulation tools to describe the energy reality of a building without knowing its internal distribution.

Integration of Radiative-based air temperature regulating system into residential building for energy saving

Roof space bears a considerable quantity of indoor thermal energy loss and solar energy gain, especially for the low-rise residential buildings, where heat transfer accounts for a large proportion. Radiative cooling strategy can cool an object, by emitting the thermal infrared irradiation passing through the atmospheric window into outer space. Furthermore, through utilization of solar energy, it contributes to improvement of the thermal comfort in the building’s interior. Here, we proposed a radiative-based air temperature regulating system to achieve space heating and space cooling passively, through the radiative thermal transfer technique. Based on the residential building typology feature, the proposed system was integrated into the roof of a low-rise residential building. The proposed system was expected to achieve reductions in the thermal transfer of rooftop and the building energy consumption. Furthermore, two composition modes of modules were designed for the radiative-based air temperature regulating system, namely in parallel and in series. The heat exchange efficiency experimentations were conducted to both composition modes, aiming at exploring a better connection method for the modules. Moreover, the passive system was designed with two working modes, for improvement of the indoor thermal comfort throughout the year. Through rotations and movements for the modules, the operation mode of the proposed system can be changed flexibly. Via employing the proposed system, a total annual energy consumption difference of 3487 k·Wh between the base case and the study case was achieved, leading to the energy saving rate of 20%.

CHINA’S TRADITIONAL HOUSING TYPES: EVOLUTION AND DIVERSITY

The article examines the evolution and diversity of traditional Chinese dwellings, Which are due to the multinational composition of the population and the natural conditions of different parts of the country.
 The syncretism characteristic of China also had a great influence on the formation of the dwelling. Confucianism formed the forms of family structure and norms of behavior, and Taoist principles and Buddhist rules – interaction with the world.
 The most common type of dwelling is the siheyuan, which is based on Chinese tradition and philosophy. This term is the key to creating an ensemble, regardless of the hierarchy and location of the settlement. The country has a very large variety of landscape and climatic territories, a rich historical heritage, a huge number of nationalities, which in interrelation have formed an equally rich historical typology of residential buildings. However, China has its own special differences that played a crucial role shaping the typology of housing. These are, first of all, inviolable forms of family structure and norms of behavior based on centuries-old dogmas of Confucianism, developed by the Taoist principles of interaction with the Buddhist worldview.
 In general, in different regions of China there were various modifications of the traditional type of house Siheyuan, which is certainly due to the peculiarities of climatic, economic and social conditions. The peculiarities of Chinese architecture have made the concept of siheyuan key in creating any ensemble in settlement. All buildings are subject to the rules of siheyuan (si – the four corners of the world, he – the environment, yuan – the garden, in this case, the garden with the yard). Its essence is that any complex is created around the yard, if there are several, then the main yard.
 All buildings are strictly symmetrical along the longitudinal axis.

Multi-scale life cycle energy analysis of residential buildings in Victoria, Australia – A typology perspective

The residential building sector is a substantial contributor to energy use in Australia. In existing studies, life cycle energy (LCE) of residential buildings is seldom evaluated from the multi-scale perspective and such considerations rarely consider building typologies. This study presents a bottom-up framework to evaluate the LCE of residential buildings at multiple scales, including the component, building and regional levels. This framework can synthetically connect LCE between different scales and assess inter-scale impact in the built environment. In this framework, residential buildings are classified by embodied impact attributes (housing type, construction year, and construction type) and operational impact attributes (occupancy schedule, fuel type, and climate zone). In this paper, the framework is further applied to evaluate the LCE of residential buildings in the context of Victoria, Australia. The research results provide valuable references about energy intensities of various residential building typologies. The research findings suggest that operational energy (OE) of new housing has reduced significantly because of the improvement of technologies and the energy-saving requirement by the government. As a result, the proportion of embodied energy (EE) in dwelling's life cycle has increased from 9%–35% (old dwellings) to 66%–71% for dwellings built after 2011. At the regional scale, the LCE is composed of 79% OE and 21% EE in Victoria. The largest part of OE is contributed by the energy use for heating (39%), and appliances are the second most energy consumers (32%). Meanwhile, the energy embodied in concrete accounts for the largest part (908 PJ) of total EE. The comprehensive profile and interplay of LCE across different scales can help decision-makers to identify the key contributor to LCE and take targeted measures to improve the energy performance of the built environment.

Connections between mobility and urban fabrics in the city of Burgos (Spain)

Previous research has studied possible links between different urban environments and induced mobility. The traditional Spanish city patterns have specific features that promote the use of soft modes, mainly favouring pedestrian presence in the streets. Nevertheless the last twenty years development has changed the previous urban reality in many towns, following some sprawl characteristics and occupying much more land than strictly necessary. Accordingly, we have analyzed the morphology of Burgos using the perspective of urban fabric differences. Focusing in some parameters such as density of dwellings, population and compactness, we have tried to understand the underlying correlation between urban environment and private car trip generation. However, although some of these urban variables can be considered as quantitative and quick indicators for unsustainable modes of transport, the effects of compact or diffuse development cannot be figured without taking into consideration other parallel factors that configure urban vitality. A previous qualitative analysis of urban growth and development may help to grasp this reality, connected with design criteria trends and urban planning policies. Likewise, mobility cannot be completely understood if only quantitative correlation is prosecuted. The retail distribution or concentration, the presence of malls, the excessive streets broadness, the existence and size of open spaces, or the residential building typologies have verifiable impact on the final modal share. Our results show clear correspondence between low dense urban fabrics and higher number of car trips. Hence, future urban development and reform policies must be oriented if sustainable mobility objectives want to be fulfilled. We suggest some final recommendations with this aim.

The analysis of architectural typology of residential buildings in Addis Ababa

The urgent problem of growing housing demand of urban population and solution of environmental crises of the XXI century, testifies the need to apply the local knowledge in creating the economically sustainable and cultural sensitive architecture and urban environment like never before. Search for a stable solution requires not only a clear understanding of the needs of current generation, but also grasping the experience of the past. This problem is particularly relevant in the cities that experience rapid urbanization, although culture and tradition also remain important. The object of this research is the different types of residential buildings in Addis Ababa. The article provides a brief historical overview of housing policy and examines the typology of housing architecture in Addis Ababa. In the course of this research, the author analyzed and generalized the documents and resolutions on the urban development policy and land management, as well as employed the methods of analysis, systematization, and comparison of the Russian experience of housing development. The examination of historical prerequisites of development of the city revealed the role of sociopolitical and socioeconomic factors in evolution of the typology of its architecture. The author's contribution consists in the analysis and determination of architectural types of residential buildings of the city. The main conclusion lies in realization of the importance of implementation of the principles of folk architecture for sustainable housing construction in the XXI century, while preserving cultural integrity of the city.

Deck-Access Housing in High-Density Downtown Areas: The Example of Paris

Deck-Access Housing in High-Density Downtown Areas: The Example of Paris Increase in building density is one of the key methods of preventing uncontrolled urban sprawl. On the other hand, especially in the case of residential housing, high density entails a number of functional and spatial challenges that the current typologies are not able to fully describe. As a consequence, they transform, mix with each other, and often find new applications, different from their modernist prototypes. Such is the case of applying access decks layouts in contemporary residential buildings in high density downtown areas. This research study, using contemporary French designs as an example, attempts to characterise this type of development against the backdrop of the source modernist typology. The research area encompasses the central districts of Paris due to their extremely high density of development. The analysis of professional literature and available publications was adopted as a research method. In the course of the research, a number of common features in the analysed buildings was noted which may indicate a significant typological distinctiveness. Moreover, it was established that such structures may constitute a valuable supplement to the existing typology of residential buildings, especially if the ground floors feature functions with significant spatial requirements and if plots characterised by unfavourable shape or dimensions are being developed.

Towards Climate Responsive Building Design: Bio-Climatic Design Features of Residential Building Typologies in the Warm-Humid Climate of Ghana

Climatic considerations in the architectural design of most contemporary buildings have not been strictly adhered to by building design and construction professionals in the last few decades in the developing world, with users being denied the inevitable interactions with the natural surroundings offered by climate. The situation leads to utilization of energy-based equipment such as air conditioner that is environmentally unsustainable. The study aimed to evaluate the bioclimatic design features of residential building typologies and to identify features that can enhance the environmental responsiveness of buildings. This study adopted the Mahoney Tables to undertake a climatic analysis to develop appropriate design guidelines for the climate context. The developed design guidelines were then used to evaluate the bio-climatic design features of a sampled number of residential building types. The study revealed that features of the buildings reflect the recommended design guidelines, but to varied extents among the building typologies that were studied. Occupants generally find their spaces unsatisfactory primarily as a result of the experience of hot discomfort. The findings are expected to engender a renewed interest in the design of buildings in response to prevailing climatic conditions to reduce reliance on energy use and to serve as a useful reference for contemporary architectural design practice and education.

A Comparative Assessment for the Potential Energy Production from PV Installation on Residential Buildings

This paper targets the future energy sustainability and aims to estimate the potential energy production from installing photovoltaic (PV) systems on the rooftop of apartment’s residential buildings, which represent the largest building sector. Analysis of the residential building typologies was carried out to select the most used residential building types in terms of building roof area, number of floors, and the number of apartments on each floor. A computer simulation tool has been used to calculate the electricity production for each building type, for three different tilt angles to estimate the electricity production. Tilt angle, spacing between the arrays, the building shape, shading from PV arrays, and other roof elements were analyzed for optimum and maximum electricity production. The electricity production for each household has been compared to typical household electricity consumption and its future consumption in 2030. The results show that installing PV systems on residential buildings can speed the transition to renewable energy and energy sustainability. The electricity production for building types with 2–4 residential units can surplus their estimated future consumption. Building types with 4–8 residential units can produce their electricity consumption in 2030. Building types of 12–24 residential units can produce more than half of their 2030 future consumption.

Estimation of the Heat Loss Coefficient of Two Occupied Residential Buildings through an Average Method

The existing performance gap between the design and the real energy consumption of a building could have three main origins: the occupants’ behaviour, the performance of the energy systems and the performance of the building envelope. Through the estimation of the in-use Heat Loss Coefficient (HLC), it is possible to characterise the building’s envelope energy performance under occupied conditions. In this research, the estimation of the HLC of two individual residential buildings located in Gainsborough and Loughborough (UK) was carried out using an average method. This average method was developed and successfully tested in previous research for an occupied four-story office building with very different characteristics to individual residential buildings. Furthermore, one of the analysed residential buildings is a new, well-insulated building, while the other represents the old, poorly insulated semidetached residential building typology. Thus, the monitored data provided were filtered in order to apply the abovementioned average method. Even without fulfilling all the average method requirements for these two residential buildings, the method provides reliable HLC values for both residential buildings. For the house in Gainsborough, the best estimated HLC value was 60.2 W/K, while the best approach for Loughborough was 366.6 W/K. Thus, despite the uncertainty sources found during the analysis, the method seems promising for its application to residential buildings.

Seismic vulnerability assessment of masonry buildings in Banja Luka and Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) using the macroseismic model

Assessment of seismic vulnerability in urban areas is a challenging task that requires a meticulous and systematic approach. Sarajevo and Banja Luka, together with Tuzla, are the most urbanized and densely populated cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sarajevo and Banja Luka experienced devastating earthquakes in 1962 and 1969, respectively. This is why it is of the utmost importance to conduct seismic vulnerability evaluation of the existing building stock in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until today no systematic database regarding structures and their typology has been compiled for the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina in connection with their vulnerability to seismic actions. The choice of an appropriate vulnerability method plays a key role in the process of assessment of seismic risk and highly depends on the available information, characteristics of the buildings, organization of data collection and decision-makers. Among various methods, it was decided to use the macroseismic method derived from the EMS-98 scale for the vulnerability assessment of the existing buildings in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The database was obtained from the “typology of residential buildings in the BiH” project, a comprehensive survey of 13,044 existing residential buildings in BIH, which was conducted for energy performance assessment of the national building stock. For the purpose of this research, the database was reduced to a sample of 2933 buildings, as it included a selection of only unreinforced and confined masonry buildings built from 1918 to 2014 and located in Sarajevo and Banja Luka. The aim of this paper is to provide an overture in assessing the seismic risk in Sarajevo and Banja Luka by applying the method based on the vulnerability index. The vulnerability index is calculated by the macroseismic method which is in the function of the type of building, regional vulnerability factor and behavior modifier factors. The application of this method confirms the notable seismic risk in the cities of Sarajevo and Banja Luka due to the high vulnerability of the buildings. It may be argued that the behavior modifiers which had the largest impact on the change of the vulnerability class were the number of floors and type of roof structure. This research intends to contribute to the prevention of an earthquake disaster, in the form of a theoretical forecast of the aftermath: structural damage and/or socio-economic losses that may occur after an earthquake.

2015 Nepal earthquake: seismic performance and post-earthquake reconstruction of stone in mud mortar masonry buildings

The residential building typology of Stone in Mud Mortar (SMM) masonry contributed significantly to the seismic losses caused by the 2015 Nepalese seismic sequence, also known as the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. SMM masonry is the most common construction type in Nepal, and notwithstanding the extensive damage, this has persisted in the post-earthquake reconstruction. This paper provides first an overview of the extent of damage and typical failure modes suffered by this typology. Some pressing issues in the ongoing post-earthquake reconstruction, such as building usability, construction quality are then discussed. The results of seismic analyses on both the pre-earthquake (PRE-SMM) and post-earthquake built (POST-SMM) typologies, using the applied element method employing a modelling strategy that accounts for the random shape of stone units, are then presented and discussed in terms of capacity curves and failure mechanisms. As per the seismic design code of Nepal, seismic performance assessment is conducted to understand the seismic design levels of these constructions. Finally, seismic fragility and vulnerability functions for both the PRE-SMM and POST-SMM typologies, considering the uncertainty in ground motions and material quality, are presented and discussed. Considering the seismic hazard in Nepal, the PRE-SMM typology is found to be highly vulnerable and seismic strengthening of these buildings is urgent. On the other hand, the POST-SMM typology has adequate seismic capacity and performs within the serviceability limit, given the quality of both the construction materials and workmanship are not compromised.

Housing in an Example of Low - Rise Residential Structure in Debar Maalo, Skopje

From city quarter with urban villas, yard houses and pittoresque ambient values, Debar Maalo in Skopje in recent time, is turning into a construction site of the intense rise of the building mass and filling in on every potential void, where the typology of multifamily residential buildings is dominant.
 But, can it be different? The marginalized forms of single-family housing, once a dominant lifestyle in Debar Maalo, single family yard houses, houses with ground contact are the remains of a passed image of this city quarter that should be the referent milieu of this research. This typology of a low-rise residential structure, should represent the renovation tactics of the the single-family dwelling in this part of the city of Skopje. The creation process of the new urban landscape of housing with characteristics of a dense and low-rise structure will be through the forward two stages: analysis and design. The location of interest will be analysed through architectural project of a housing block with the typology of a low-rise housing structure that should provide high urban density of 120 houses per hectare. The suggested typology of the housing structure should provide housing that will meet the new lifestyles and will achieve diversity of the houses according to their size, structure, and comfort.
 This thesis should refer to the idea of rethinking and reminiscing on the elementary architectural city image, low rise housing structure typology as a building type at the level of the morphology of the city of Skopje.

Overheating risk assessment of different dwellings during the hottest season of a warm tropical climate

Cities with hot tropical climate suffer generally from warm conditions during all year long, which could result on buildings ‘overheating’ or high energy consumption by cooling. This paper is the first of its kind in Central America, region that lacks studies regarding thermal performance of buildings. This study develops an overheating risk assessment to twelve dwellings of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with a warm tropical climate, based on 41-day field study measurements of indoor air temperatures during its hottest season of the year. The aim of the study was to find if overheating risk differed depending on the building typology, single-family (SD) or apartment-type (AT), and based on the latter, to what extent roof exposure to solar gains and material properties, such as u-values and thermal mass, are parameters that influence the risk of overheating. The adopted methodology followed CIBSE TM52 Overheating Risk Methodology, and EN15251 and ASHRAE 55 adaptive thermal comfort approaches. Overheating risk was found to vary depending on the residential building typology. Dwellings with high roof exposure and high u-values in roof were found to be ‘overheating’ more. Following CIBSE TM52 methodology, some AT and SD dwellings experienced hours of exceedance above 3% of occupied hours, reaching up to 12.5% (61 h) and 20.3% (133 h) of occupied hours, respectively. Passive strategies such as improving roof properties (e.g. low u-values), shading and night ventilation may be necessary to reduce the risk of overheating in Tegucigalpa and similar tropical contexts where air conditioning is less affordable.

Thermal Comfort Characteristics and Its Effects on Health Status of Occupants of Residential Building Typology in a Sub-Humid Tropical Climate

This study examined the indoor thermal comfort characteristics and it implications for the health of the inhabitants in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria. The study used the experimental and survey research designs to gather primary data of temperature (dry and wet bulb), and perception of the inhabitants regarding thermal conditions in the study area. The effective temperature equation was used to determine the thermal comfort characteristics of the residential buildings in the study area, while the analysis of variance (ANOVA) model was used to determine the spatial variation in thermal comfort characteristics across the different land uses in the study area. The findings of the study include: the thermal comfort characteristics for the study area ranged between 27.3 ET & 29.08 ET at the dry period and at wet period 25.6 ET and 27.10 ET. The ANOVA model was significant at P < 0.05 (F-118.23, sig-0.00), indicating that there is a significant difference in the thermal comfort characteristics in the study area. The Duncan statistics however, revealed that, the GRA is the coolest when it comes to effective temperature. Furthermore, the respondents identified that; the period of discomfort is mostly afternoon (37.3%) and Nights (35.1%). Health problems as a result of poor thermal conditions include skin rashes (59.8%), heat cramps (26.4%), prickly heat (42%) and heat exhaustion (51.3%). As a result of the findings the study strongly advocates, building residential buildings with several openings and locating such openings in recognition of the wind direction.

Influence of emerging technologies deployment in residential built stock on electric energy cost and grid load

High penetration rates of novel building energy technologies has prompted a growing concern about their microeconomic effect and grid influence. Deployment of photovoltaic (PV), solar water heating (SWH) systems and energy storage solutions, in addition to the growth of electric vehicles (EV) fleet, are reshaping the structure of built stock and lead to the changes in its electric energy demand profile. Long-term forecasting of such structural changes is necessary to guide the decision-making process that would satisfy the needs of both, energy consumers and the suppliers. Whereas electric energy price model is one of the key influencing factors of technologies acceptance for households, peak loads and grid feed-in determine the needed capacity of power grids. The objective of this study was to assess both, the aggregated cost of energy and the changes in cumulative load profiles that are excepted by 2050 for one of residential building typologies in Norway. Methodologically, it was achieved with descriptive statistics, stochastic forecasting and detailed energy performance simulation. Annual electric energy cost for consumers were evaluated under six pricing models. The results suggested that time-of-use and variable maximum power extraction models represent the lowest and the highest extremes in energy cost. At the aggregated level, peak load will decrease in range 1% to 13% compared to current level. Peak PV feed-in will reach up to 40% of peak load by 2050.

Water efficiency and economic assessment of domestic rainwater harvesting systems in buildings with one- to three-floor elevations

Abstract The focus of the paper is the evaluation of the performance of domestic rainwater harvesting (DRWH) systems in multi-family buildings with one- to three-floor elevations by means of a cost–benefit analysis. The rainwater is here used for both indoor and outdoor non-potable water consumption. The study was carried out with reference to different residential building typologies (flat and condominium) in a specific local climate condition (Ancona). The buildings are characterized by different rooftop areas (100–400 m2), building floor elevations (one to three floors) and inhabitant numbers (3–54 persons). Moreover, in order to highlight the role of the tank capacity on the performance of DRWH, its capacity was changed in the range 50–200%. The combinations of all these parameters led to 276 test cases. The technical performance is evaluated by means of the water saving and retention efficiencies. The economical assessment is provided by comparing the costs and the savings due to the replacement of the water supplied with the rainwater. It is found that the payback periods changed in the range 10–35 years for the site-specific variables such as local rainfall and water service tariff. Cost–benefit analysis can help the design of DRWH systems, with particular attention to the sizing of the tank.

Comparative Analysis of Energy Demand and CO2 Emissions on Different Typologies of Residential Buildings in Europe

The building sector accounts for one third of the global energy consumption and it is expected to grow in the next decades. This evidence leads researchers, engineers and architects to develop innovative technologies based on renewable energies and to enhance the thermal performance of building envelopes. In this context, the potential applicability and further energy performance analysis of these technologies when implemented into different building typologies and climate conditions are not easily comparable. Although massive information is available in data sources, the lack of standardized methods for data gathering and the non-public availability makes the comparative analyses more difficult. These facts limit the benchmarking of different building energy demand parameters such as space heating, cooling, air conditioning, domestic hot water, lighting and electric appliances. Therefore, the first objective of this study consists in providing a review about the common typologies of residential buildings in Europe from the main data sources. This study contains specific details on their architecture, building envelope, floor space and insulation properties. The second objective consists in performing a cross-country comparison in terms of energy demand for the applications with higher energy requirements in the residential building sector (heating and domestic hot water), as well as their related CO2 emissions. The approach of this comparative analysis is based on the residential building typology developed in TABULA/EPISCOPE projects. This comparative study provides a reference scenario in terms of energy demand and CO2 emissions for residential buildings and allows to evaluate the potential implementation of new supply energy technologies in hot, temperate and cold climate regions. From this study it was also concluded that there is a necessity of a free access database which could gather and classify reliable energy data in buildings.