A new set of indicators to evaluate the bioclimatic performance of air conditioned buildings in a hot and humid climate. (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Omar, Abdou Idris; David, Damien; Vergnault, Etienne; Virgone, Joseph; Idriss, Abdoulkader Ibrahim
• Is Part Of: Journal of building engineering. Volume 31(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: Environmental resources -- Climate indicators -- Building indicators -- Bioclimatic approach -- Building design -- Hot climate; Building -- Periodicals; 690.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jobe.2020.101350
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-7102

Abstract

Abstract: The current challenge is to reduce the building energy consumption, in hot and humid climates, for which air conditioning is widespread. Up to now, the lack of criteria that identify the available cooling resources and the level of performance of technical solution has represented the major obstacle. To address these issues, the authors propose a new set of indicators to fully inform the decision-making process of the bioclimatic design of fully space-conditioned buildings in a hot and humid climate. This set of indicators provides an overview of the exploitable environmental resource (external air through external convection, natural ventilation and sky radiation cooling) referred as the Environmental Resource Indicators and of the capacity of the building to exploit those resources referred as the Building Performance Indicators. The indicators are implemented for a very basic two-story residential building in the hot, humid climate of Djibouti. The case study shows not only the ability of the indicators to reflect the bioclimatic performances of the buildings but also their ability to give an overview of the building heat exchanges, from which the implication of improper bioclimatic solutions on building cooling consumptions can easily be identified. These indicators are a means to help choose which technical solutions are most suited to the local climate, which is very useful for designers and architects in the early stages of building design. Highlights: New set of indicators is studied in detail to evaluate the building's bioclimatic performances in a hot and humid climate. The bioclimatic analysis revealed the quasi-absence of cooling resources during the hot season. Solutions with high cooling exploited potentials are not reasonable since they lead to great heat input potentials. The bioclimatic analysis revealed the limitation of passive envelopes in their ability to exploit external resources. For such environmental resources, active systems would be helpful and would be valuable only during the cool season.