Correlations between GIS-Based Urban Building Densification Analysis and Climate Guidelines for Mediterranean Courtyards

Abstract

This study identifies and proposes A GIS-based exploration of the relationships between aspect ratio of inner courtyards, porosity of the urban fabric and the climatic factors where it is located. To perform that comparison, morphological and measurement methods have been used to delineate spatial boundaries of urban densification. This methodology has been applied to a case study in Spain, where regulation establishes several climatic zones. Examples of cities in these zones have been examined to establish possible correlations. This paper analyses the particularities of these different urban scenarios, considering the effects of climate on the real urban densification. The purpose of this study is to find a relationship between the historical inner courtyards dimensions and the climate of the zone where they are located. In order to frame the real thermal behaviour of the inner courtyard in the context of the vernacular typologies studied, a representative sample of inner courtyards has been selected. The monitoring data presented allow quantifying the courtyard's ability to temper the maximum temperature values.

Tempering potential-based evaluation of the courtyard microclimate as a combined function of aspect ratio and outdoor temperature

“…According to the literature (Abdulkareem, 2016;Aldawoud, 2008;Al-Masri & Abu-Hijleh, 2012Almhafdy et al, 2015aAlmhafdy et al, 2015b;Berkovic et al, 2012;Cantón et al, 2014;Cindel et al, 2018;Del Rio et al, 2019;Du et al, 2014;Ghaffarianhoseini et al, 2015;Guedouh & Zemmouri, 2017Huang et al, 2016Jihad & Tahiri, 2016Ma et al, 2019Manioğlu & Oral, 2015;Martinelli & Matzarakis, 2017Moonen et al, 2011Muhaisen & Gadi, 2006a;Muhaisen & Gadi, 2006bMuhaisen, 2006Nasrollahi et al, 2017;Qaid & Ossen, 2015Rodríguez-Algeciras et al, 2018Rojas et al, 2012;Rojas-Fernández et al, 2017;Soflaei et al, 2016;Soflaei et al, 2017;Taleghani et al, 2014b;Taleghani et al, 2015;Toe & Kubota, 2015Xu et al, 2018Yang et al, 2012;Yaşa & Ok, 2014;Zamani et al, 2018), AR is a key factor in determining courtyard thermal performance. As mentioned before, there are abundant examples of case studies in the literature (Table 1) that analyze the influence of courtyard geometry, specifically their AR, on their potential efficiency as a passive cooling system.…”

“…Some literature reviews have focused on this specific topic (Al-Masri & Abu-Hijleh, 2012;Zamani, Heidari, & Hanachi, 2018;Taleghani, 2018). Most of these studies emphasize the importance of variables such as courtyard geometry, in some cases considered as aspect ratio (AR) or as sky view factor (SVF) (Abdulkareem, 2016;Aldawoud, 2008;Al-Masri & Abu-Hijleh, 2012; C. Rivera-Gómez, et al Sustainable Cities and Society 51 (2019) 101740 Almhafdy, Norhati, Sh Ahmad, & Yahya, 2015a;Almhafdy, Ibrahim, Ahmad, & Yahya, 2015b;Berkovic, Yezioro, & Bitan, 2012;Cantón, Ganem, Barea, & Llano, 2014;Cindel, Yung, Norhayati, & Norafida, 2018;Del Rio, Asawa, Hirayama, Sato, & Ohta, 2019;Du, Bokel, & van den Dobbelsteen, 2014;Ghaffarianhoseini, Berardi, & Ghaffarianhoseini, 2015;Guedouh & Zemmouri, 2017;Huang, Hamza, Lan, & Zahi, 2016;Jihad & Tahiri, 2016;Ma, Fukuda, Zhou, Gao, & Wang, 2019;Manioğlu & Oral, 2015;Martinelli & Matzarakis, 2017;Moonen, Dorer, & Carmeliet, 2011;Muhaisen & Gadi, 2006a;Muhaisen & Gadi, 2006b;Muhaisen, 2006;Nasrollahi, Hatami, Khastar, & Taleghani, 2017;Qaid & Ossen, 2015;Rodríguez-Algeciras, Tablada, Chaos-Yeras, De la Paz, & Matzarakis, 2018;Rojas, Galán-Marín, & Fernández-Nieto, 2012;Rojas-Fernández, Galán-Marín, Roa-Fernández, & Rivera-Gómez, 2017;Soflaei, Shokouhian, & Mofidi Shemirani, 2016;…”

“…Outdoor temperature and courtyard location in a specific climate is a key factor, due to better courtyard behavior in hot climates. In fact, most published research deals with case studies in warm regions of the planet (Aldawoud, 2008;Ghaffarianhoseini et al, 2015;Guedouh & Zemmouri, 2017;Huang et al, 2016;Jihad & Tahiri, 2016;Martinelli & Matzarakis, 2017;Muhaisen, 2006;Nasrollahi et al, 2017;Rodríguez-Algeciras et al, 2018;Rojas et al, 2012;Rojas-Fernández et al, 2017;Shahidan, Jones, Gwilliam, & Salleh, 2012;Soflaei et al, 2017;Taleghani et al, 2014a;Taleghani, Tenpierik, van den Dobbelsteen, & Sailor, 2014ca;Taleghani et al, 2015;Taleghani, 2018;Xu et al, 2018;Yaşa & Ok, 2014;Zamani et al, 2018). Other variables such as shading (Berkovic et al, 2012;Cindel et al, 2018;Huang et al, 2016;Ma et al, 2019;Shashua-Bar, Pearlmutter, & Erell, 2009Soflaei et al, 2017Zamani et al, 2018), vegetation (Abdulkareem, 2016;Almhafdy, Ibrahim, Ahmad, & Yahya, 2013;Berkovic et al, 2012;Cantón et al, 2014;Cindel et al, 2018;Del Rio et al, 2019;Ghaffarianhoseini et al, 2015;Ma et al, 2019;Shahidan et al, 2012;Shashua-Bar et al, 2009;Taleghani et al, 2014ca;…”

Courtyard microclimate ENVI-met outputs deviation from the experimental data

“…Mean annual precipitation is 539 mm [39]. The studied courtyards belong to buildings located in the urban area, and they have been selected according to the common dimensions of courtyards in Spain [4]. In terms of Spanish regulations, the area is classified as B4, which implies summers of the highest climate severity in Spain [40].…”

“…The courtyard has been traditionally used in hot climates as an element providing light, ventilation and helps conditioning of the building. Previous research manifests the relationship between geometry, energy performance and the context of the architecture [4,5]. As an element of passive conditioning, the courtyard is especially relevant in the present situation of climate change, accelerated by the high energy consumption we are facing nowadays [6].…”