Climate is a major determinant in building design. There has been a long standing need by designers and architects, as well as engineers, in Saudi Arabia for easy access to hourly climatic data. Such data are essential for many passive and active solar applications, including the simulation of the energy performance of building designs. A major contribution of the present study lies in the development of a Reference Year representative of the climate in Saudi Arabia. This reference year compensates the scarcity and inadequate climatic data presently published in Saudi Arabia. It also provides substantial data base of climatic variable for use in simulation programs, not only for Saudi Arabia, but also for similar hot-arid regions. The present study also bridges the gap, currently observed in literature and research, concerning the energy performance of internal shading devices. These devices, and in particular curtains and blinds, are quite common features in our living spaces. T he effects such devices have on the energy balance of indoor spaces and the comfort of occupants, can be assessed by the simplified design tools developed in the present study. The characteristics of two samples (a domestic curtain and a low-e coated blind) have been measured using outdoor test rooms at the "Passys" test site. Results have indicated that the blind is more effective than the domestic curtain. The blind can reduce the transmission coefficient of double glazed fenestration by 11%, and can reduce the solar heat gain factor by 34%. In comparison, the curtain reduces the fenestration heat transmission coefficient and solar heat gain factor by 8% and 29% respectively. Results from the simulation programs "ESP" and "Curtain" have been compared with measured parameters. The analysis have provided confidence in such tools. This thesis has been structured to be of value to architects. The effort put forward in the layout and presentation of the thesis provide a readable and easy to understand research material. The reviews, results, and analysis covered in this thesis would be useful for further research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:284786 |
| Date | January 1992 |
| Creators | Joudah, Nabeel Addul-Rahman |
| Publisher | University of Strathclyde |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://oleg.lib.strath.ac.uk:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=21236 |
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