Improving solar gain control strategies in residential buildings located in a hot climate (Tripoli-Libya)

A large number of recently-built residential buildings in Libya provide a poor quality indoor environment or require a huge amount of energy to run the air conditioning, therefore influencing the thermal comfort, energy consumption and carbon emissions. As the use of energy in buildings is the major contributor to air pollution and global climate change, improving energy efficiency through the application of bioclimatic design principles in residential buildings in Libya is a critical factor in reducing energy consumption, securing thermal comfort, and hence is an effective policy for reducing the environmental impacts such as global warming and ozone layer depletion. This research assumes that the use of appropriate orientation, materials and building configuration would offer suitable solutions for energy and environmental problems in hot, arid countries. This hypothesis is examined through an example located in Libya. A domestic building in Libya was studied with a view to reducing its energy consumption. The study included detailed monitoring for 45 days continuously, followed by computer simulation of a range of intervention strategies. A field study including temperature, humidity and electricity consumption measurements was carried out and results from the study were gathered and analysed. Moreover a computer simulation model was built using IES software, a fully dynamic simulation model to investigate the potential influence of changes to the building. The thermal comfort of users in a residential building in Tripoli, Libya was investigated. Field measurements and subjective environmental perception survey were used. It was established that building design in hot arid regions must consider thermal requirements

The Application of Building Modifications and their Effects on Energy Consumption in Buildings

A huge amount of energy is used for air-conditioning in residential buildings in hot climates. Passive design features such as shading and advanced glazing can help to reduce energy use and carbon emissions, and thus mitigate the impact on climate change. This paper aimed at demonstrating how the application of selected modification devices such as solar films and shading devices affects the energy consumption patterns and levels in a residential building. A model of a building was constructed with VE using “Model IT” module, which was then analysed in a variety of different ways. A Virtual Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES-VE) was used to assess the energy gain and consumption parameters such as solar gains, shading devices, solar cloud and chilli clouds in residential buildings in Tripoli, Libya. The findings indicate that the best way to control and reduce the energy gains pattern in a building is to introduce energy modification devices such as shading device, solar films, emissivity paints and roof slab absorbers among others. In specific terms, the best device would be the application of external solar film, follow by shading device and internal solar film. An application of emissivity paints and roof slab absorbers does not contribute significantly to the energy reduction in the building. The study concludes that the application of modification devices in buildings can reduces the heat gain significantly. This study underscores the need and importance of the applications of energy modification devices in buildings in order to reduce their energy gains in the context of tropical regions. Though the climatological characteristics of tropical regions are similar, the generalisation of the findings in this study requires caution since the findings are limited in geographical context. Future research should also explore the impact of urban forms, street layout and orientation on solar penetration and energy use in buildings. Keywords: Architecture, Buildings, Climate change, Energy consumption, Energy gains, Liby