THE ANALYSIS OF FORM, SETTLEMENT PATTERN AND ENVELOPE ALTERNATIVES ON BUILDING COOLING LOADS IN TRADITIONAL YAZD HOUSES OF IRAN

Abstract

Environmental and energy problems have reached globally a dangerous point in recent years. Taking into consideration of these problems in building design could help to develop sustainable perspectives on built environment. There have been various vernacular architectural solutions regarding bioclimatic conditions of settlement. Traditional architecture in different climatic zones prove that choosing appropriate values for energy efficient design parameters shows results in low energy buildings. This study aims to investigate the effect of settlement pattern, building form and envelope alternatives on cooling loads in Yazd as the representative city of the hot and dry climate zone of Iran by means of Design Builder V.3 building energy simulation software.