Different strategies for improving summer thermal comfort in heavyweight traditional buildings

摘要

In order to exploit the passive energy potential of the building envelope, it is important to provide a right combination ofudinsulation thickness, heat capacity and night-time ventilation. In this paper, this issue will be tackled with reference to an historicudbuilding in Catania (Southern Italy). The building was built at the end of the XIX century, and its opaque envelope is entirelyudmade with lava stones, which is typical of traditional architecture in this area.udStarting from the current configuration of the building, many hypotheses for refurbishment are considered, combined withuddifferent strategies for passive cooling, such as night-time ventilation, use of shading devices and adoption of highly-reflectiveudcoatings. The effectiveness of each solution in terms of summer thermal comfort is evaluated through dynamic thermaludsimulations carried out with EnergyPlus.udThe results show the synergic effect of these strategies, as well as their individual impact, and allow to draw some generaludconclusions about the behaviour of heavyweight buildings under moderately hot weather conditions.