Influence of building shape and orientation on heating demand: simulations for student dormitories in temperate climate conditions

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of preliminary design decisions such as building shape and orientation on its heating demand. After analysing plans of forty student dormitories located in heating dominated climate (Dfb and Cfb), eight typical plan layouts were identified and chosen for further analysis. Eight buildings were modelled using these plans and uploaded to dynamic simulation tool, Sefaira. Buildings have the same characteristics (surface, height, thermal properties, location etc.). The next step was to rotate the buildings at 45° intervals and simulate the annual heating demand for each case. The results show that the shape influences the heating energy consumption. The difference between minimum and maximum heating demand in the chosen sample was 50%. The square -shaped buildings have advantages in terms of heating energy consumption over L, U and C-shaped buildings as well as over rectangles with different shape factor. Orientation does not substantially influence the consumption in well insulated buildings. Last step of the research was to analyse the influence of functional layout on heating energy and internal comfort in a square-shaped building.

Enerji Verimliliğinin Enerji Güvenliği ve Enerji Sürdürülebilirliği Odağında Kavramsallaştırılması

“…Construction sector has been monitored in order to achieve energy efficiency targets and zero-energy buildings. Thus minimizing heat loss is critical because of the impact of a building's energy demand for heating (Mokrzecka, 2018). It is emphasized that shape and orientation can influence energy demand by 30-40% (Mokrzecka, 2018;Brophy and Lewis, 2011).…”

“…Thus minimizing heat loss is critical because of the impact of a building's energy demand for heating (Mokrzecka, 2018). It is emphasized that shape and orientation can influence energy demand by 30-40% (Mokrzecka, 2018;Brophy and Lewis, 2011). A building's heating energy demand is related to architectural implementations referring to the micro-climate shape of the building (Lylykangas, 2009).…”

“…smaller values of building shape coefficient lead to less heat loss and energy consumption (Lin et al 2014;Tianzhen, 2009). It is suggested that the energy performance of rectangular with plan proportions 2:5 is better than square and L-shaped plans, trapezoid performs the best and square is only slightly worse (Mokrzecka, 2018;Tuhus-Dubrow and Krarti, 2010). It is stated that the most compact orthogonal building would then be a cube and a hyper-compact building is not then preferred because it will increase electricity consumption preventing the use of daylight (Catalina et al , 2011).…”

Energy Performance Optimization for A School Building in Syria According to Building Shape and Orientation

“…There are other studies that assessed the effects of building shape, relative compactness (RC), and glazing percentage on the optimal orientation of the building for improved energy performance [34][35][36][37][38]. Most recent research investigations rely heavily on simulation, with the bulk relying on assumptions and analysing the impact of these assumptions using numerical energy modelling.…”

Quali—A Quantitative Environmental Assessment Method According to Italian CAM, for the Sustainable Design of Urban Neighbourhoods in Mediterranean Climatic Regions

“…The European Commission [5] is directing operators in the sector towards a wide range of technological solutions that can be used to drastically reduce the energy consumed by real estate assets. The energy consumption of a building is influenced by several factors, such as the geometry and orientation of the building [6,7], the performance of the building envelope [7,8] and the efficiency of building systems, as well as usage patterns, energy management and user behaviour.…”