Post on 28-Feb-2023
Thermal Performance of Mosque Architectural Forms and its impacts on indoor
temperature and thermal comfort
Al - Sharjah as a case study
Emad S.Mushtaha
Assistant Professor, Dep., of Architecture, University of Sharjah
Abstract
Hundreds of mosques have been built to serve people in Sharjah city. A previous
research published in 2007 has investigated the main mosque forms in the city of
Sharjah, four forms were found: square, square with small additives in four
directions, rectangle, and octagonal. Herein, in this study the forms are simplified
to three forms instead of four for the similarity between the first two forms. The
study investigates the effect of these forms on its thermal performance,
occupants’ thermal comfort, and indoor temperature. Three model scenarios
representing the original three forms have been developed using the ECOTECT
software. The location of the buildings and its area and materials plus the
internal heat gain were kept the same in the simulation models. From the
investigation, results obtained showed a significant effect of mosque form and
construction on its thermal performance, indoor temperature and occupants’
thermal comfort. Therefore, It is recommended to revise the existing designing
approach to consider best forms and construction details that consume less
energy and achieve the comfort.
KEYWORDS: Mosque Design, Sharjah City, Thermal performance, Thermal Comfort,
Indoor Temperature
1. INTRODUCTION
Mosque in Arabic called “masjid”, which is a defined space of worship for
followers of Islam, where all Muslims can meet together for prayers. Historically,
the mosque worked as a center for information, education, and dispute
settlement. The main spaces in mosque buildings are: prayer hall, dome and
minaret, services area for toilets and ablution, Imam residence, and courtyard
(not in all buildings). As mentioned earlier, hundreds of mosques have been built
to serve people in Sharjah city. This number of mosques is in an increase as the
government is giving a special attention to the religious buildings. Locally, many
endeavors and studies had focused on sustainability issues; few of them
discussed the environmental aspects of mosques. There have been several calls
asking for proper use of passive design tools like shading devices, insulation, and
natural ventilation in order to improve the thermal performance of indoor
spaces.
Regionally, the topic is immensely active on the table and many researchers
have investigated the performance of such buildings like (Asfour,2009 ),
(Abideen, 1997), (Al-Najim and Al-Mofeez ,1999). Therefore, the authors have
decided to investigate the effect of mosque forms and passive design on its
thermal performance within the comfort limits.
According to a previous research published in few years ago (AWAD, 2007), four
forms were found: square, square with small additives in four directions,
rectangle, and octagon. It is noticed that these forms can be simplified to three
forms instead of four for the similarity between the first two forms.
The impact of the passive design’s elements on room temperature has been
studied to improve indoor comfort. Herein, achieving environmentally friendly
designs within the most modest means in a sound environment is urgently
needed.
Three strategies namely: shading, ventilation, insulation for walls, roofs and floors
in addition to a baseline case were conducted in the study in order to obtain
effective solution for indoor environment. The modelling analyses would focus on
summer rather than winter for its obvious problems of hight“Tempaerature and
Heat”.
This study aims to show the impact of passive tools on building thermal
performance under hot climate regions and to investigate the effect of building
forms on its thermal performance which would help future design to list its
priorities, tools, and materials towards sustainability, and would assist decision
makers set their priorities on passive tools and proper form within comfort limits
Herein, this study focuses on evaluating some common passive parameters such
as shading devices, natural ventilation, and insulation on mosques.
2. OJECTIVES:
The main objectives of this study are to investigate:
1.The impact of passive design on building thermal performance.
2.The effect of building forms on its thermal performance.
This would help designers and decision makers list their priorities, forms, and
materials towards sustainability.
3. THE EFFECT OF MOSQUE FORM AND CONSTRUCTION ON THERMAL
PERFORMANCE
3.1. STUDY METHODOLOGY
The selected research methodology here is using ECOTECT computer software
to simulate the thermal performance. Using computer software enables studying
various scenarios of building mass, geometry and materials, under specific
climatic conditions.
3.2. ECOTECT
Ecotect is one of the most common environmental software analysis and
simulation packages, which is widely used both professionally as well as on
research projects. Using a graphical interface, the building models are
generated and materials, dimensions and building elements are specified. The
finished model is then simulated with a specific climatic conditions and
numerical as well as visual results are obtained. Ecotect version 2011 was used
during this research.
3.3. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS
As the research is looking at mosques in the city of Sharjah, UAE. No specific
climatic data file could be obtained at the time of this study for Al Sharjah city.
However due to the close proximity of the city of Dubai, whith the borders of
sharjah and Dubai merging together. The climatic data file for Dubai was used.
90% of the mosques in Sharjah lie within a 50km radius circle from Dubai.
Dubai and Sharjah have a hot and arid climate with mild warm winters (23o
average high temperatures) and extremely warm and humid summers (42o
average high temperatures). Accordingly internal thermal comfort is not a
problem in winter compared to summer, and it was hence chosen to model the
thermal performance inside the mosque at the worst possible scenario, which is
the average hottest day of the year, which is the 19th of August according to
the Ecotect weather file.
3.4. MOSQUE OCCUPATION SCHEDULE
Ecotect allows setting up an occupation schedule for each zone in the model.
This is beneficiary in the mosque scenario as the mosque occupation patterns
varies greatly according to prayer times. The mosque simulated has a constant
indoor area of 400m2, this allows for a peak occupation of 800 prayers (2 persons
per square meter). From many sites observation, the following occupation
schedule was used in this study:
1. 5% constant occupation of the prayer space
2. 20% occupation during daily prayers (5 prayers per day)
3. 100% occupation during the Friday prayer.
3.5. SELECTED FORMS
From the literature, three main mosque forms where selected: The square
mosque, the rectangular and the octagonal mosque. The form of such where
simplified to the bare minimum relevant to this study. The areas of the mosques
are kept constant at 400 m2 and height at 5m. Hence the three variants have
an equal internal volume and occupation capacity.
3.6. STUDY VARIATIONS MATRIX
For each of the three cases selected, several variation where tested,
representing the baseline (standard mosque construction and practice) as well
as 5 other variations for passive design strategies suitable for the selected
climate. These strategies include: Fabric insulation, Solar shading and natural
ventilation. Also combining these strategies together has been studied, as per
the following matrix:
Square Rectangle Octagon
1 Baseline A1 B1 C1
2 Insulation A2 B2 C2
3 Shading A3 B3 C3
4 Insulation + Shading A4 B4 C4
5 Ventilation A5 B5 C5
6 Ins. + Shad. + Vent. A6 B6 C6
The different cases are explained below:
3.6.1. BASELINE CASE
The baseline cases (A1, B1, C1) represent the standard practice for mosque
buildings with the standard building materials.
Component Material U-
Value Admittance Width
Wall Concrete Block with Plaster 1.170 3.690 235mm
Windows Single Glazed – Aluminum frame 6.00 6.00 6mm
Floor Concrete Slab with Carpet 0.920 6.00 1,620mm
Roof Clay Tiled 3.10 3.10 135mm
3.6.2. INSULATION
Thermal insulation increases the resistance of the building materials to heat
transfer, which mainly regulates the fabric heat gains and losses. This has a
double effect, of reducing the heat gain from the outside during the peak
temperature hours as well as prevent heat loss during night, which is an effect
known as thermal lag
In these second cases (A2, B2, and C2) have been upgraded with insulation
materials with much better U values, this included insulated walls, double glazed
windows and an insulated green roof.
Component Material U-
Value Admittance Width
Wall Double Concrete Block with
Polystyrene insulation
0.420 3.910 280mm
Windows Double Glazed – Air gap –
Aluminum frame
2.410 2.380 42mm
Floor Concrete Slab with Carpet 0.920 6.00 1,620mm
Roof Concrete roof – insulation –
gravel and soil with grass
1.030 4.50 570mm
3.6.3. SHADING
Solar shading blocks direct solar radiation from entering the building through
glazed windows, such as physical vertical, and horizontal shading devices. These
horizontal louvers where designed to block the direct solar radiation on windows
during the summer months (June to Aug) between the hours of 10:00am in the
morning and 3:00pm in the afternoon.
Ecotect solar shading design wizard was used to accurately model the shading
devices according to those parameters. This strategy is explored in cases (A3, B3,
and C3)
3.6.4. VENTILATION
For a mosque building, people go in
and out very frequently, hence
insuring a tight building is almost
impossible. Some large mosques
counter that by using double doors,
however in this size of mosque a single
door is used. The average air change
rate for such has been set at 2 ach/hr.
Natural ventilation as a passive
strategy helps increase thermal comfort by increasing air change rate. Hence
this strategy was explored by introducing natural ventilation within the mosque
space at a rate of 10 air changes per hour. Explored in cases (A5, B5, C5)
3.6.5. COMBINING STRATEGIES
Cases (A4, B4, and C4) explore combining insulation and natural ventilation
strategies.
Cases (A6, B6, and C6) explore combining the three passive strategies: Insulation,
Shading and Ventilation.
4. ANALYSIS
4.1. CASE A
4.1.1. DESCRIPTION
Case A is a square Mosque with an area of 400 m2, dimensions are 20 x20m. The
mosque is oriented to point towards Qibla, 102o degrees clockwise from North.
This makes the facades almost north, east, south and west oriented respectively.
The mosque space has a height of 5m. A door is placed on the opposite side of
the Qibla for an entrance. The other three facades have windows equal to 20%
of the façade area. Windows are all 2m in height with a sill of 1.5m
4.1.2. THERMAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS – INTERNAL TEMPERATURES
The above model with variations listed earlier was run on Ecotect and internal
temperatures for the “Average hottest summer day”(19th of August), was
extracted as follows:
Figure 1 - Case A thermal performance
Case A1
This case considered the baseline; normal practice for mosque buildings uses
the standard materials, with minimal insulation, 2 air changes per hour and high
envelope leakage.
For the Baseline case B1, internal temperatures are around (4.7o) above the
outdoor temperatures during the lowest temperatures of the day at 5am and
around (1.3o) above the peak temperature at 2pm.
Case A2
In this case, highly insulated materials are used in walls, windows and roof. For
case A2, the added insulation has greatly benefited the internal comfort, by
regulating the temperatures. The temperatures at 5am are around (3.6o) above
the outdoor temperatures, however peak temperatures at 2pm drop by more
than (2.7o).
29.00
31.00
33.00
35.00
37.00
39.00
41.00
43.00
45.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
OUTSIDE
A1_Baseline
A2_Insulation
A3_Shading
A4_Insulation + Shading
A5_Ventillation
A6_Insul. + Shad. + Vent.
Case A3
In this case, shading devices are added to block the sun at peak temperature
hours from 10:00am to 3:00pm.
Almost no advantage was shown by shading alone in this case. Temperatures
are almost similar to the baseline case with a drop of less than (0.1o).
Case A4
Case A4 combines the insulation from case A2 with the shading devices from
case A3.
Again showing almost similar results to the case A2 (insulation alone). With
minimal advantage gained from shading the windows in this scenario. Less than
(0.1o) difference.
Case A5
This case explores the effect of natural ventilation, by increasing the air change
rate 5x times the standard.
Ventilation in such a climate shows approx. (1.5o)increase I indoor temperatures
above the outdoor temperatures during the coldest time of the day at 5am and
around (0.4o) above the peak temperature at 2pm.
Case A6
This case combines all the 3 strategies tried in the previous options
For case A6, internal temperatures are approx. (4.6o) above the outdoor
temperatures during the lowest temperatures of the day at 5am and around
(2.7o) below the peak temperature at 2pm.
The average temperatures for the six cases are as follows:
Figure 2 - Average Temperatures For Case A
A study of the average temperatures for the 6 scenarios in comparison to the
ambient temperatures reveal that although casesA6, A5 and A4 are performing
better than the other cases, average temperatures within the space cannot be
dropped to comfortable levels with passive strategies alone.
37.11
39.20
37.90
39.18
37.89 37.84
37.29
35.0
35.5
36.0
36.5
37.0
37.5
38.0
38.5
39.0
39.5
40.0
Aver. O
utsid
e
Aver. A
1
Aver. A
2
Aver. A
3
Aver. A
4
Aver. A
5
Aver. A
6
deg
ree
s
4.2. CASE B
4.2.1. DESCRIPTION
Case B is a rectangular Mosque with an
area of 400 m2, dimensions are 15 x
26.6m. As per the preferred Islamic rule,
the longest side is towards Qibla. Similar
to case A,the mosque s rotated 102o
clock wise towards the qibla. This makes
the facades almost north, east, south
and west oriented respectively.The
mosque space has a height of 5m.A
door is placed on the opposite side of the Qibla for an entrance. The other three
facades have windows equal to 20% of the façade area. Windows are all 2m in
height with a sill of 1.5m
4.2.2. THERMAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS – INTERNAL TEMPERATURES
The above model with variations listed earlier was run on Ecotect and internal
temperatures for the “Average hottest summer day” was extracted as follows:
FIGURE 3 - CASE B THERMAL PERFORMANCE
29.00
31.00
33.00
35.00
37.00
39.00
41.00
43.00
45.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
OUTSIDE
B1_Baseline
B2_Insulation
B3_Shading
B4_Insulation + Shading
B5_Ventillation
B6_Ventillation
Case B1
This case considered the baseline; normal practice for mosque buildings uses
the standard materials, with minimal insulation, 2 air changes per hour and high
envelope leakage.
For the Baseline case B1, internal temperatures are around (4o) above the
outdoor temperatures during the lowest temperatures of the day at 5am and
around (1.5o) above the peak temperature at 2pm.
Case B2
In this case, highly insulated materials are used in walls, windows and roof. For
case B2, the added insulation has greatly benefited the internal comfort, by
regulating the temperatures. The temperatures at 5am are around (4o) above
the outdoor temperatures, however peak temperatures at 2pm drop by more
than (4o).
Case B3
In this case, shading devices are added to block the sun at peak temperature
hours from 10:00am to 3:00pm. For case B3, Almost no advantage shown by
shading alone in this case. Temperatures are almost similar to the baseline case
Case B4
Case B4 combines the insulation from case B2 with the shading devices from
case B3. For case B4, again showing almost similar results to the case B2
(insulation alone). With minimal advantage gained from shading the windows in
this scenario. Less than (0.1o) difference.
Case B5
This case explores the effect of natural ventilation, by increasing the air change
rate 5x times the standard. For case B5, ventilation in such a climate shows
approx. (2o) above the outdoor temperatures during the lowest temperatures of
the day at 5am and around (0.5o) above the peak temperature at 2pm.
Case B6
This case combines all the 3 strategies tried in the previous options
For case B6, internal temperatures are approx. (2.1o) above the outdoor
temperatures during the lowest temperatures of the day at 5am and around
(2.4) below the peak temperature at 2pm.
The average daily temperatures for the six cases are as follows:
FIGURE 4 - AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FOR CASE B
A study of the average temperatures for the 6 scenarios in comparison to the
ambient temperatures reveal that though case B6, B5 and B2 are performing
better than the other cases, average temperatures within the space cannot be
dropped to comfortable levels with passive strategies alone.
37.11
39.16
37.90
39.17
37.90 37.83
37.30
35.0
35.5
36.0
36.5
37.0
37.5
38.0
38.5
39.0
39.5
40.0
Aver. O
utsid
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Aver. B
1
Aver. B
2
Aver. B
3
Aver. B
4
Aver. B
5
Aver. B
6
deg
rees
4.3. CASE C
4.3.1. DESCRIPTION
Case C is anoctagonalmosque with an area
of 400 m2, with each side measuring 9.1 m.
The mosque space has a height of 5m.A
door is placed on the opposite side of the
Qibla for an entrance. The other 7 facades
have windows equal to 20% of the façade area. Windows are all 2m in height
with a sill of 1.5m.
4.3.2. THERMAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS – INTERNAL TEMPERATURES
The above model with variations listed earlier was run on Ecotect and internal
temperatures for the “Average hottest summer day” was extracted as follows:
FIGURE 5 - CASE C THERMAL PERFORMANCE
29.00
31.00
33.00
35.00
37.00
39.00
41.00
43.00
45.00
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
OUTSIDE
C1_Baseline
C2_Insulation
C3_Shading
C4_Insulation + Shading
C5_Ventillation
C6_Insul. + Shad. + Vent.
Case C1
This case considered the baseline; normal practice for mosque buildings uses
the standard materials, with minimal insulation, 2 air changes per hour and high
envelope leakage.
For the Baseline case C1, internal temperatures are around (4o) above the
outdoor temperatures during the lowest temperatures of the day at 5am and
around (1.9o) above the peak temperature at 2pm.
Case C2
In this case, highly insulated materials are used in walls, windows and roof.
For case C2, the added insulation has greatly benefited the internal comfort, by
regulating the temperatures. The temperatures at 5am are around (4.2o) above
the outdoor temperatures, however peak temperatures at 2pm drop by approx.
(4.8o).
Case C3
In this case, shading devices are added to block the sun at peak temperature
hours from 10:00am to 3:00pm.
For case C3, shading shows a drop of less than (0.1o) compared to the baseline
case C1.
Case C4
Case C4 combines the insulation from case C2 with the shading devices from
case C3.
For case C4, again showing almost similar results to the case C2 (insulation
alone). With minimal advantage gained from shading the windows in this
scenario. Less than (0.1o) difference.
Case C5
This case explores the effect of natural ventilation, by increasing the air change
rate 5x times the standard.
For case C5, ventilation in such a climate shows approx. (1.8o) above the
outdoor temperatures during the lowest temperatures of the day at 5am and
around (0.6o) above the peak temperature at 2pm.
Case C6
This case combines all the 3 strategies tried in the previous options
For case C6, internal temperatures are approx. (1.8o) above the outdoor
temperatures during the lowest temperatures of the day at 5am and around
(1.4) below the peak temperature at 2pm.
The average daily temperatures for the six cases are as follows:
FIGURE 6 - AVERAGE TEMPERATURES FOR CASE C
A study of the average temperatures for the 6 scenarios in comparison to the
ambient temperatures reveal that though case C6, C4 and C2 are performing
better than the other cases, average temperatures within the space cannot be
dropped to comfortable levels with passive strategies alone.
37.11
39.38
37.91
39.37
37.90 37.93
37.29
35.0
35.5
36.0
36.5
37.0
37.5
38.0
38.5
39.0
39.5
40.0
Aver. O
utsid
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Aver. C
1
Aver. C
2
Aver. C
3
Aver. C
4
Aver. C
5
Aver. C
6
deg
rees
4.4. COMPARING THE THREE MOSQUE FORMS A, B AND C
4.4.1. COMPARISON OF THE THREE CASES
The previous study has compared the performance for the variants (cases) of
the three different mosque forms: A, B and C. Here we attempt to compare the
best case for each form to establish the best performing geometry so far. Hence
the temperature schemes for the cases: A6, B6 and C6 are compared and the
difference in temperatures for each scheme against the ambient where plotted
as follows:
FIGURE 7 - TEMPERATURE VARIATION FOR CASES A, B AND C
The comparison shows the octagonal mosque (Case C6) performing better than
the other options in regulating the internal temperatures. Achieving the lowest
average temperatures throughout the average warmest day.
However as earlier recorded, none of the three cases with three variations,
where able to drop the average indoor temperatures beyond the average
outdoor temperatures. Generally indoor thermal comfort is not possible using
passive strategies alone.
4.4.2. STUDY OF THE SAVINGS IN THE AC POWER LOAD
-1.70
-1.20
-0.70
-0.20
0.30
0.80
1.30
1.80
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Case A6
Case B6
case C6
Hence, as is the common practice in the region of study, active air conditioning
systems are required to achieve thermal comfort in summer. However based on
the simulations done, passive strategies where able to drop the indoor
temperatures inside the mosque, by an average of (2.1o) during the warmest
summer day. The study was extended to study the savings in AC power load
that can be achieved using such passive strategies compared to baseline case.
Similar to the previous study, Ecotect software was used to calculate the AC
power load during the full year for Cases (C1) and (C6), representing the best
performing passive scenario, compared to its baseline. A hybrid air-conditioning
system was assumed, with 95% efficiency, with a lower band thermostat range
of (18o) and an upper band of (26o). This system operates only when the
temperatures fall beyond the thresholds, and remains off otherwise.
FIGURE 8 - AC COOLING LOAD COMPARISON FOR THE BASELINE CASE C1 AND
BEST PASSIVE STRATEGIES C6
The figure above is showing a considerable savings in AC cooling load, between
the passively designed Case C6 compared to the baseline case C1. The total
yearly cooling load calculated by Ecotect dropped from 229 MWh per year for
the C1, to 64 MWh per year for case C6. The maximum savings occur on winter
months (December to February) with the cooling load almost eliminated (13% to
2% of the original load), while savings in summer though less (approx. 71% from
June to August) are still considerable. The average savings are 77% of the
original load.
0.0 0.1 1.1
3.6
7.1 8.5
12.1 12.3
9.5
6.9
2.6
0.5 0.5 1.5
5.1
13.7
25.5
29.8
41.6 42.6
32.4
23.3
9.4
3.6
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
MW
h
Case C6 Case C1
FIGURE 3 - SAVINGS IN COOLING LOAD FOR CASE C6 COMPARED TO C1
The simulation also shows a drop in the peak cooling load from 123,815 W at
14:00 on the 19th of August in case C1, to 40,209W at 12:00 on the 31st of August
in case C6. This means a 67.5% reduction in the cooling load, which allows
designing a much smaller HVAC system to handle such a load compared to the
baseline case, further contributing to lowering the initial cost, as well as running
a more efficient system with optimized load.
5. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
5.1. SUMMARY
5.1.1. EFFECT OF MOSQUE GEOMETRY
The simulation done, showed that even though there is an effect of the mosque
geometry on its performance. This effect is a negligible impact compared to the
other factors, this mainly relates to the geographic location of the study in the
UAE, where the sun angles during summer are so high, that the orientation of the
facades has almost no effect.
Never the less, the Octagonal mosque performed better than the other
geometries, this is due to the fact that it has the smallest surface area versus the
internal volume, with the square mosque having a bigger surface area and the
rectangle having the biggest surface area. The small surface area in such a
climate reduces the fabric gains through the walls and roofs, resulting in lower
internal temperatures.
50%
55%
60%
65%
70%
75%
80%
85%
90%
95%
100%
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Cooling Load savings
5.1.2. PASSIVE STRATEGIES
Several passive strategies where simulated, including Insulation, Solar Shading
and Ventilation, as well as two combination . The simulations showed the
following:
Thermal insulation showed the most profound effect on reducing the
internal temperatures during the peak hours averaging (2.7o below
ambient outside temperatures) and (4.2o below baseline case)
Solar shading has a lesser effect on reducing the internal temperatures
compared to the ambient. (1.7o above ambient outside temperatures)
and (0.1o below baseline case). This is the result of the sun angles in
summer being extremely vertical, reducing the efficiency of the shading
louvers
Natural ventilation had a very limited effect, mainly due to the high
ambient outside temperatures. Showing (0.6o above ambient outside
temperatures) and (0.9o below baseline case)
Combining the three strategies proved to be the most effective over-all
managing to regulate the indoor temperatures to approx. (0.2o above the
ambient outdoor temperatures)
However, none of the passive strategies nor their combinations was able
to drop the indoor temperatures to comfortable levels. This is mainly due
the very high outdoor temperatures during summer and the high heat
gain due to occupancy inside the mosque.
5.1.3. ACTIVE STRATEGIES AND SAVING ENERGY
It was clear from the analysis done that due to the harsh summer climate in the
UAE, it’s not possible to achieve thermal comfort in mosques with passive
strategies alone. The combination of very high summer temperatures almost all
day, the high relative humidity as well as the high internal heat gain from the
large number of prayers, makes the use of active strategies to cool the space to
reasonable temperatures a necessity.
However from the previous analysis, it was clear that passive design can help
reduce the AC cooling load, by dropping the internal temperatures as well as
reduce the external heat gain.
To measure the efficiency of such a scenario, a comparative study was done to
calculate the monthly cooling load of the baseline case C1 against the best
passive scenario C6.
Results showed a huge savings in the cooling load throughout the year, a
reduction that reaches almost 97% during January and averages around 71%
during summer. The passive strategies in C6 have also reduced the peak cooling
load from 123,815 W to 40,209W, a 67.5% savings.
5.2. CONCLUSION
The results shown in this study can be summarized in the following points:
Mosque shapes with the minimum surface area achieve better
performance in the Sharjah/Dubai climate, and reducing the external
heat gain.
Passive design strategies can help reduce the external heat gain as well
as regulate the internal temperatures. However are not able to achieve
thermal comfort conditions.
Combining passive and active strategies significantly reduces the energy
use for cooling the mosque space, as well as reducing the size of the
HVAC units used.
5.2.1. FUTURE STUDIES
A number of other points can be explored in future studies relating to passive
mosque design that have not been covered here:
Combining renewable energy systems, like PVs on the mosque roof, to
generate energy as well as reduce the solar heat gain by blocking the
sun from reaching the roof surface.
Using hybrid cooling systems like ground cooling to further optimize the
active cooling.
Exploring more innovative mosque building geometries like semi-spherical
shapes or semi-buried buildings.
6. REFERENCES
Abdul Hamed A. N., 2011, Thermal Comfort Assessment to Building Envelope: A
Case Study for New Mosque Design in Baghdad, Volume 2 No. 3, International
Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management & Applied Sciences &
Technologies, 249-264.
Al-Najim A., Al-Mofeez I., 1999, The Role of Courtyard in Power Consumption of
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