Towards environmental optimization for achieving indoor thermal comfort using windcatchers

Abstract

The effectiveness of conventional windcatchers as passive environmental design components in enhancing thermal comfort in the interior in hot arid climate conditions is tested in this study. The research has tried to investigate the impact of windcatchers on four different building designs, thus adding to the development of the green building paradigms through the recognition of the best design parameters, including the ratio of windows to the wall (WWR) and the building orientation, in order to boost indoor thermal performance. DesignBuilder (DB) simulation tool is used to develop the accurate climatic conditions through meteorological data of Egypt. Moreover, the use of the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) makes it possible to conduct a strict analysis of how the factors used in the design of a building can affect the interior conditions including air velocity. In summer, when the weather is at its best, the Hollow Square design is the most efficient in Cairo, as it has the least CO2 emissions (251.8 kg) and hours of thermal discomfort (156.8 h), due to its small size, low (20%) percent of window to wall ratio, and ideal orientation. The results highlight the importance of the windcatcher performance, the structure of the building, the velocity of the wind, and the direction of the wind to the improvement of the thermal comfort in the building environment.