Thermal Assessment of Low-Cost Rural Housing—A Case Study in the Ecuadorian Andes

Abstract

Abstract:The aim of this research is to assess the indoor thermal performance of rural dwellings in the Ecuadorian highlands through both experimental and numerical analysis. A three-step methodology was applied to conduct the research: (a) field data collection, (b) building thermal model development and calibration, and (c) comparison analysis and assessment of traditional improvement strategies. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from two representative rural dwellings under typical usage conditions. The first is a traditional construction, medium-exposed thermal mass dwelling (Case A). The second is a local common, uninsulated, lightweight construction (Case B). The thermal model was calibrated by comparing hourly temperature values of the observed and the predicted indoor air temperature. A high correlation level (R 2 ) was achieved between the observed and predicted data; 0.89 in Case A and 0.94 in Case B. The results show that the roof, floor, and the airtightness are the critical building parameters affecting the indoor thermal environment. Likewise, the indoor air temperature is increased up to 4 • C through the implementation of traditional strategies. However, despite the rise in indoor air temperature, acceptable thermal comfort ranges were only reached for 25% of the total hours.

Thermal Monitoring and Simulation of Earthen Buildings. A Review

“…Miño et al [36] analysed a residential unit from Zumbahua (Ecuador) where the climate in this region is considered to be tundra climate (ET). The residential unit is built with compressed stabilised earth blocks (CSEB), but no information of the type of stabilizer used is provided.…”

“…The same authors that monitored the compressed earth blocks dwellings in Ecuador and Burkina Faso, Miño et al [36] and Ouedraogo [37] respectively, also simulated the behaviour of the construction in order to assess the thermal comfort and validate the model with the experimentation.…”

“…In the case of Miño et al [36], the authors used EneryPlus for the simulation, obtaining an R2 between the monitored and the simulated data of 0.89, with an error (RMSE) of 1.1 • C. Moreover, Miño et al present two additional cases with the same envelope, but testing different passive solutions to improve the thermal behaviour. In the first one, the internal heat gains and schedules are changed to reflect the common usage conditions of rural housing in the region; and the second, is adding a ceiling of timber infill with earth, and the improvement of the dwelling airtightness to a medium level.…”

“…The thermal performance and the building characteristics of the CEB simulated studies are presented in Table 9. The authors who specified the software coincide using Energy-Plus [36,40,76]. Three authors propose wall thickness of 14 cm.…”

Indoor Temperature Validation of Low-Income Detached Dwellings under Tropical Weather Conditions

“…Then, this information was used to evaluate the best orientation scenario [21]. In Ecuador [22], Miño and Naranjo conducted a comparative evaluation between two rural dwellings with different envelope materials such as walls and slabs. In addition to the comparison between outdoor temperature impact to that recorded indoors, the model's accuracy was evaluated with hourly data from the monitoring at two levels of evaluation; in a last level the correlation error was reduced by iterations varying the levels of infiltration, identifying the correlation between observed and predicted data as 0.89 for compressed earth block and 0.94 for hollow concrete block, with a RMSE close to 1.1 • C in both studied dwellings.…”