The Effects of Envelope Building Materials on Thermal Comfort and Energy Consumption. Case of Hot and Dry Climate

Abstract

Envelope Building materials play an important role in architecture by providing protection necessities, comfort, and technical performance while promoting an architectural language and an image. The building envelope represents all the surfaces of a space, consist of opaque parts such as walls, floors and roofs and transparent parts such as windows and openings. The building envelope is the partition between the external and internal environment of the building influences heat transfer between two environments so it has a direct impact on the thermal comfort sensation which also influences the energy consumptions. In this research we focus on the opaque building materials of the envelope and their contribution in the thermal comfort and the energy consumption, we investigate the impact and the thermal behavior of different envelope configuration materials under the climatic conditions of Biskra, Algeria a hot and arid climate. We compare the thermal performance of different materials using in situ measurement using “Testo 480” a hygrothermal scale and by analyzing the results of a different simulation using “DesignBuilder v5.5” to perform a thermal and energy analysis. Choosing a multilayered isolated envelope such as double red brick isolated wall will likely affect positively the level of the indoor thermal comfort.