Exploring Energy Retrofitting Strategies and Their Effect on Comfort in a Vernacular Building in a Dry Mediterranean Climate

Abstract

This research explores the energy behaviour of a traditional house on the Mediterranean coast of south-eastern Spain. The objective of the work is to determine the optimal passive strategies for rehabilitating a traditional house, improving its energy savings and comfort, considering the characteristics of the warm semi-arid Mediterranean climate. The main novelty of this article is that it demonstrates that the limits imposed by current regulations, based on globalised climate strategy approaches, undermine the energy efficiency capacity that passive solutions in vernacular architecture already employed. The methodology used consists of a systematised multi-objective study of various energy rehabilitation strategies. Four strategies were studied: raising the thermal insulation of enclosures, improving thermal insulation and solar control glazing with movable shading devices, increasing the size of windows and introducing the use of natural ventilation enhanced by ceiling fans. The results show that simultaneous improvement of these parameters reduces cooling and heating requirements by up to 87%, reducing the energy consumption of air conditioning systems. Indoor temperatures are also maintained within the comfort limits set by regulations for 91% of hours per year without the need for air conditioning systems. This results in a passive energy-efficient and comfortable house almost all year round. This work offers an alternative solution to the comfort standards of current Spanish regulations and demonstrates the need to adapt Fanger’s analytical method for comfort estimation. The research concludes that the comfort criteria of current energy regulations should be modified to better adapt the design criteria to the dry Mediterranean climate.

Bedrooms and the Vulnerability of Sleepers to Extreme Heat Events

“…Overheating is not only a problem for the newer buildings that are constructed to current building codes and regulations, but also an issue for the existing building stock [12]. Recent studies have shown that retrofitting to conform with national codes can lead to overheating in the summer and uncomfortable internal conditions, because of the complex relationship between thermal insulation, thermal mass, shading, and ventilation [46].…”

Integration of Solar Cooling Systems in Buildings in Sunbelt Region: An Overview

“…It is important to note that buildings have three heat gains: ventilation, envelope, and internal heat gain. They are related to further characteristics such as opaque and transparent materials and percentage of surfaces, orientation, schedules, end-use, habitants' behavior, and the standard of their comfort conditions [16][17][18]. Finally, the cooling systems' performances (not considering the alternative passive solutions, such as cooling roofs) widely influence the final consumption, by varying according to the EER, the efficiency of generation, distribution, regulation, and emissions components, the maintenance, and the typology.…”