Evaluation of Energy Consumption in Earth sheltered Housing As A Sustainable Pattern In Urban Environment (Case study: Shiraz City)

Subject Areas :

Ali Eghtedari ¹ , Tahereh Nasr ² , khosro movahed ³ , Zahra Barzegar Marvasti ⁴

1 - Ph.D Student, Department of Architecture, Islamic Azad University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran.
2 - Department of Architecture, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran.
3 - Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, Islamic Azad University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran.
4 - Professor, Department of Architecture, Islamic Azad University of Shiraz, Shiraz, Iran.

Received: 2021-11-12 Accepted : 2022-02-21 Published : 2023-11-22

Keywords: urban planning, Sustainable Pattern, Earth Sheltered House, Energy Saving,

Abstract :

In modern times, paying attention to controlling energy consumption in the city and its components, including buildings on a small and large scale, has particular importance, and a comprehensive look at urban planning can be very effective in achieving this goal. Supplying the required energy for cooling and heating of buildings is one of the main concerns of energy consumption management and in this regard, earth sheltered houses as a sustainable pattern by creating a constant temperature quality indoors, can make an effective contribution for reducing building energy utilization and in a higher position energy consumption of the city. In the present study, the thermal performance of the courtyard earth sheltered building was evaluated and its energy consumption was calculated in different cases of land subsidence and was compared with a non- ground shelter model located on the ground. In the general process of research, after conducting preliminary studies, building modeling was done with SketchUp software and then soil temperature in Shiraz was determined at different depths. In the next step, the climatic data of Shiraz city were extracted using Meteonorm software and finally thermal simulation was performed in Energyplus software. The simulation results showed that among all the depressions of the model in deep soil, the graph related to cooling energy at a depth of 6 meters, shows annual savings about 44% compared to the non-ground-shelter model and The heating energy diagram of the building in the same depth shows an 18% annual increase compared to the ground-based model; But eventually, the total annual heating and cooling energy of the model at a depth of 6 meters shows a decrease of 32% compared to the model located on the ground, which is in fact the highest amount of savings among other conditions.
Extended Abstract
 
Introduction
Improving energy efficiency in the residential sector of urban areas will become an important part of achieving sustainable development in the near future, and how to reduce energy consumption and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions is one of the most important issues related to sustainability and urban planning. In most countries, buildings are responsible for at least 40% of total energy consumption and in developing countries, the current figure is rising. In addition, energy consumption in the residential sector in developing countries is about 80% of total energy consumption and will increase in the future. Using land as a building material can be a powerful tool in fighting against increasing energy consumption and its destructive environmental effects. In this regard, earth sheltered structures as a kind of creative design is defined as an alternative to conventional buildings built on the ground about reducing Energy consumption. In this study, the consumption of cooling and heating energy in the submerged species (atrium) in accordance with the architectural model of traditional houses in Shiraz (central courtyard model), in the form of a new building model is investigated. The purpose of this study is comparing the consumption of cooling and heating energy among atrium earth sheltered species with non-ground shelter of the same model. The main question of the research is to what extent utilizing earth sheltered model can be effective in reducing the cooling and heating loads compared to its similar model on the ground level.
Methodology
At the beginning of the research, reputable scientific sites and articles were explored and the general stages of the research began. In order to enter the required information into Energy Plus 2011 software as thermal simulation software and to determine the heating and cooling loads of the model in different cases, different research steps were taken. In the first step, Shiraz city weather information was extracted from Meteonorm software. The second step was dedicated to determining the soil temperature at different depths of the earth in Shiraz city using the relevant formula. And in the third step, three-dimensional modeling of the building was built in SketchUp software so that by completing and entering the required initial information, the thermal simulation of the model in different conditions of ground and non-ground as a final step can be done.
 
Results and discussion
In this study, the consumption of cooling and heating energy in the central courtyard or atrium species as an old pattern in the traditional architecture of Shiraz with a hot and dry climate, in modern form was investigated. Heating and cooling diagrams show that with the immersion of the model in the soil, the cooling need will be reduced and the heating need will be increased to some extent.
Conclusion
Examination of the results of thermal simulation of earth sheltered residential building in Shiraz city in different situations of deep sinking, has shown that by gradually sinking the model in the ground, saving total heating and cooling energy of the building and reducing its cooling needs could be occurred. The sum of the annual heating and cooling loads indicates that the simulated construction model, in the second to sixth cases compared to the similar non-earthen model (the first case), has total annual heating and cooling needs and their amounts are respectively 17%, 19%, 20%, 28%, 32% savings. The highest amount of savings is related to the installation of the model at depth 6 meters

References:

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