The cognition of the architectural styles role on thermal performance in houses of semi-arid climates: Analysis of building envelope materials

Abstract

The envelope of buildings has an important role in controlling the energy consumption in buildings. The climatic changes and depletion of conventional sources make this fact important. This paper endeavors to estimate the thermal performance (steady-state) condition of a range of houses envelope with different architectural styles in Northern Iraq. The study examines the potential of the building envelope materials to control heat loss/gain through calculating U-Value (Heat transfer coefficient value). The capacity of the building's envelope materials to maintain indoor temperature is a goal to perform thermal comfort and decrease energy usage. The potential of buildings envelope materials for each architectural style in terms of their thermal performance has been identified and the results have been determined. Reconcile the new materials and technologies with old vernacular materials and techniques, would grant effective design potential. Finally, the recommendations to develop new envelopes have been suggested to reduce energy consumption in future houses.