Questions Concerning the Role of the Skycourt as a Passive Strategy to Enhance Energy Efficiency

Abstract

Buildings contribute 40–50% of the total energy consumption around the world. Therefore, vital and decisive measures need to be taken to reduce this consumption. One of the most important of these measures is passive design. The passive design has recently received increasing attention as an option to reduce energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions. One of the most important elements and components of passive design that has received great attention is the building form. There are many passive design strategies related to building forms such as skycourts, courtyards, setbacks, atriums, and skygardens, to help provide a healthy environment for building occupants. These strategies contribute to providing natural ventilation and natural lighting within the spaces, which helps reduce energy consumption. Despite the great importance of these strategies, there is a significant gap in the study of most of them, and the greatest interest was in studying the courtyard and the atrium only. This research deals with developing a set of questions related to these strategies, and by responding to them, this research proved that such strategies contribute to enhancing natural ventilation and lighting in indoor spaces and providing an appropriate and comfortable internal environment, which contributes to energy saving.