Parametric Design Structures in Low Rise Buildings in Relation to the Urban Context in UAE

Lindita Bande, Abeer Alshamsi, Anoud Alhefeiti, Sarah Alderei, Sebah Shaban, Mohammed Albattah and Martin D. Scoppa
Additional contact information
Lindita Bande: Department of Architectural Engineering, Al Ain Campus, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, AL Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
Abeer Alshamsi: Department of Architectural Engineering, Al Ain Campus, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, AL Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
Anoud Alhefeiti: Department of Architectural Engineering, Al Ain Campus, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, AL Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
Sarah Alderei: Department of Architectural Engineering, Al Ain Campus, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, AL Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
Sebah Shaban: Department of Architectural Engineering, Al Ain Campus, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, AL Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
Mohammed Albattah: Department of Architectural Engineering, Al Ain Campus, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, AL Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates
Martin D. Scoppa: Department of Architectural Engineering, Al Ain Campus, College of Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, AL Ain 15551, United Arab Emirates

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-23

Abstract: The city of Al Ain (Abu Dhabi, UAE) has a mainly low rise residential buildings. Villas as part of a compound or separate units represent the majority of the residential areas in the city. Due to the harsh hot arid climate of Al Ain, the energy demand for the cooling load is quite high. Therefore, it is relevant finding new retrofit strategies that are efficient in reducing the cooling load of the villas. The aim of this study is to analyze one particular strategy (parametric shading structure) in terms of design, construction, cost, energy impact on the selected villa. The main data for this study is taken from the local sources. There are six steps followed in this analysis: case study analysis; climate analysis; parametric structure and PV panels; building energy consumption and outdoor thermal comfort; modelling, simulation, and validation; materials, construction, and cost evaluation. The model of the villa was validated for the full year 2020 based on the electricity bills obtained. After adding the parametric design structure, the reduction after shading is approximately 10%. Meanwhile the UTCI (Universal Thermal Climate Index) dropped from extreme heat stress to strong heat stress (average for the month of March and September). These findings are promising in the retrofit industry due to the advanced calculations used to optimize the parametric design structure.

Keywords: energy in buildings; parametric structure; BIPV (building integrated photovoltaics); ROI (return of investment); OTC (outdoor thermal comfort) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8595/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/15/8595/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:15:p:8595-:d:606719

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().