Formulating passive energy design strategies require an understanding of the climatic influence on buildings and the thermal comfort of their occupants. This paper presents the bioclimatic approach in building design as well as the techniques which are applied to formulate various strategies in...

Solar heat gains obtainable from attached sunspaces to air-conditioned rooms are evaluated by means of the solution to the optical problem of incident solar radiation absorption through the windows and of the temperature field in the shell separating the sunspace from outdoors and adjacent...

The thermal performance of a typical traditional house in Zambia, which experiences a tropical upland climate, is investigated by empirical measurements. Results show that the house is not comfortable in the cool season

Analyses have been done on different techniques of passive solar control using local climatic data (for 25-year period) to obtain physical building design. Our main aim is to provide general and appropriate information at strategic pre-design stages to make better use of passive solar energy in...

In northern Algeria, use of ventilation by ceiling fans is widespread in mosques and other public buildings during the hot season, but is seldom used in private houses. In the first part of this study, the impact of this mode of cooling on indoor thermal comfort is investigated. A thermal...

A CFD software called VORTEX is used as a tool to simulate air flow and thermal comfort in naturally wind ventilated classrooms of an educational institution, which are at different locations, have different configurations and slightly differing outdoor environmental conditions. Simulations of...

This study presents the findings of applying a Discrete Demand Side Control (DDSC) approach to the space heating of two case study buildings. High and low tolerance scenarios are implemented on the space heating controller to assess the impact of DDSC upon buildings with different thermal...

The development of the adaptive approach to thermal comfort is reviewed from 1970 to 1995. It is argued that the adaptive approach is likely to yield useful standards for thermal comfort world-wide. These standards would take into account both climate and culture, and would need less energy than...

Passive cooling techniques in buildings have been employed successfully for many years in hot and hot-humid climates. The advances in the production of electricity and associated technologies have encouraged the use of mechanical cooling systems including air conditioning. Such systems have...

The application of passive cooling techniques to buildings in warm climates creates the need for appropriate comfort criteria. Conventional comfort criteria, usually based upon laboratory experiments, seem to be unnecessarily severe. The paper describes preliminary findings of the PASCOOL...