The Effects of Courtyard Envelope on the Energy Required for Cooling in the Hot Desert Climate

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate how various aspects of the courtyard envelope affect the amount of energy required to maintain a comfortable temperature in Egypt's hot deserts. Two different courtyard ratios (R1 and R2) were simulated using a wide range of parameters representing the courtyard envelope's features. The parameters of two courtyards, R1 (width-to-length ratio=0.5) and R2 (width-to-length ratio=1), were studied. They included the Window-to-Wall Ratio (WWR), the surface albedo of the courtyard walls, and the orientation of the courtyard. For this study, the annual energy needed to cool an office building in New Aswan was calculated using the Design-Builder software. The results demonstrate that the courtyard envelope significantly influences the annual cooling energy demand. In addition, the efficiency of a building's cooling system improves with the increase of parameters that have a direct impact on the amount of energy required for cooling, such as WWR and surface albedo for the courtyard envelope, as opposed to those that have an indirect impact, such as courtyard proportions. More specifically, the courtyard envelope's surface albedo has the potential to reduce annual cooling energy use by more than 2.8%.