Investigating the climate-adaptive design strategies of residential earth-sheltered buildings in Iran

Abstract

PurposeThe earth-sheltered building is an adaptive strategy reducing energy consumption as well as increasing thermal comfort of the residents. Although this idea historically implemented in the city of Yazd, Iran, its effects on thermal comfort have not been studied thoroughly. This paper aims to discuss and analyze energy performance, in terms of parameters such as orientation, underground depth, nocturnal ventilation and its subsequent effects on thermal comfort in earth-sheltered buildings in Yazd.Design/methodology/approachUsing EnergyPlus software, the obtained numeric data are precisely modeled, simulated and analyzed.FindingsResults show that there is a direct relationship between depth of construction and energy consumption savings. The more construction depth of earth-sheltered buildings, the more percentage of energy consumption savings, that is of a higher rate in comparison to the aboveground ones. However, in south orientation, energy saving significantly reduces from depth of 2 m downwards and the annual indoor temperature fluctuation decreases by 50%. This subsequently yields to experiencing indoor thermal comfort for a significant number of days throughout the year. Considering the effects of orientation factor, the south orientation regardless of the depth provides the most desired outcome regarding energy savings.Originality/valueSimulating the model generalized to the sunken courtyard can approve that the results of this research can be applied to the other models.

Analysis of the Possibility of Developing "Earthship" Autonomous Buildings

“…Since the building is located in the ground, there are also often dark spaces, creating difficulties in air circulation and problems with adequate lighting. Furthermore, darkened spaces can adversely affect the well-being of the occupants [4,30,43]. People oriented towards typical/standard architecture and solutions may have problems adapting in earthship.…”