Hot and dry climate

In addition to attention to natural light as a renewable, costless and environment-friendly source of energy in the late 20th century, numerous studies have been conducted into the effect of natural light on human being’s soul and body and all such studies reiterate the undeniable role of natural lighting on people’s behavior, attitudes, and efficiency. However, in spite of the awareness of the effects of natural light on human beings as well as on the environment, source of lighting in most buildings is still limited to artificial lighting and most of the solutions used in the old architecture with regard to the use of natural lighting have been forgotten nowadays. This paper, based upon a holistic approach and a qualitative research method analyses a few traditional houses in Hot and Dry climate of Iran and showed how their builders by using architectural elements as well as different methods of space organization so to better use light to satisfy the physical and psychological needs of the inhabitants,including visual and heat comfort, health, introducing  variety and increasing space quality. As we will see, this research describes the methods they tried to create a balance between physical and psychological needs of the inhabitants and to supply the required energy.

One of the ways to achieve high energy efficiency in buildings and an effective system is to utilize local architectural experiences. In this connection, the central courtyard is an element that was used in the past to create comfort in the hot and dry climates of Kashan, Iran. A large part of the literature in the past has focused on this space and investigated factors such as height, length, and presence of water in the courtyard, which are directly related to the studied space. This article concerns the hydrodynamic behavior of the wind under the effects of the length-to-height ratio to reduce the temperature of settlements in Kashan's hot and dry climate, aiming to yield the highest efficiency from this element. This study uses Fluent, Energy Plus, and Open Studio software using a descriptive-analytical method to analyze the data. In the end, it is determined that since the prevalent wind in Kashan comes from a northeast front, it can be utilized by placing the longitudinal direction of the central courtyard on its path. In addition, the optimal state in all models suggests the central courtyard has experienced a length-to-height ratio of 1to4, followed by a ratio of 1to5.

A major party of generated energy is now used for heating and cooling buildings. Hence, it is beneficial to apply solutions that reduce the thermal load of buildings. However, solutions for energy consumption reduction always face barriers. Optimizing window proportions in energy consumption saving is highly influential in this case. The window is one of the main components that receives solar radiation energy but also serves as a thermal bridge transmitting energy from interior to exterior space. This s tudy inves tigates the climate conditions of Kashan. It determines materials as cons tant variables to examine the impact of southern window-to-floor area ratios on the thermal performance of settlements in hot and dry climates to achieve higher efficiency of this element using simulation of different models through EnergyPlus software. This s tudy then examines the cooling and heating load created in interior space considering variable elements of ratios, window elongation, and window-to-floor ratio, using single and double-glazed glass and its analysis considering meteorological data of this city using EnergyPLus software. Finally, the mos t optimum southern window-to-floor ratio was determined. This s tudy aims to achieve efficiency and the highes t impact of the southern side's window of a building on the thermal performance of the building by simulating various models through EnergyPlus software. This s tudy has used the descriptive-analytical method, then analyzed the obtained results, and las tly outlined the priority of application among models as follows:1.38 ratio, 1 ratio, and 1.95 ratio. In contras t, the mos t optimum window ratio is a 15% window-to-floor ratio with 1.38 proportions and eas tern and wes tern elongation using double-glazed glass.