Envelope design for thermal comfort and reduced energy consumption in residential buildings

Due to the harsh climate of Saudi Arabia, residential buildings on average, consume more than half of the total consumed energy. The bulk of this energy is consumed by the air-conditioning system which is required to remove substantial amount of gained heat due to poor thermal envelope performance.; The objectives of this research are to evaluate the thermal characteristics of building envelope and consequently define those that enhance the indoor thermal conditions and improve the energy efficiency of residential buildings. In order to achieve these objectives, a typical base case residential building was developed by conducting a questionnaire survey in Dhahran and Riyadh. Envelope design practices were defined and eight designs were selected to represent the wide variation of thermal characteristics.; Energy simulation program; VisualDOE 4.1 was used to evaluate the impact of thermal performance of the selected envelope designs and air leakage characteristics in the residential building when no air-conditioning is used. Parametric analysis was performed in Dhahran and consequently ventilation strategies were developed for the eight envelope designs at various windows to wall ratio (WWR). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...