An Investigation on Fenestration Size and Penetration Depth and Their Role in Thermal Comfort of Vernacular and Contemporary Residential Buildings of Shiraz

This article investigates the location and size of translucent layers, windows and shading devices in order to measure the penetration depth for the main spaces of a building and the extent to which daylighting is experienced, the amount of thermal energy received from sunlight through windows and the effect it has on the temperature of the interior space compared to thermal comfort temperature in Shiraz. The vernacular residential architecture of Shiraz follows the same structural model and building shape for all layers of main spaces located in the south direction. This has led to more or less similar sizes and dimensions and, as a result, similar thermal conditions. However, contemporary residential architecture introduces many diverse building structures and shapes. The question remaining to be answered is whether the size of windows is an effective factor for thermal comfort in the interior spaces of a building. In other words, can the size of window and penetration depth be considered as effective factors for realizing thermal comfort in traditional and modern buildings? Duffy’s computational formulas are used to estimate the values of these variables for different building structures. Penetration depth (cm) and the amount of energy received (cal/(min./cm2)) are calculated. Then, samples of contemporary and vernacular residential buildings are compared in order to identify optimal and climate responsive samples and to suggest effective factors in designing windows and shading devices.

کلیدواژه ها:

Fenestration Size ، Penetration Depth ، Thermal Comfort ، Vernacular and Contemporary Residential Buildings