Increasing efficiency of atriums in hot, arid zones

Abstract

This research evaluated the efficiency of Atrium in hot, arid regions and investigated the parameters influencing the total energy consumption of an existing shopping mall in Dubai, UAE using the IES-VE energy modeling software. The parameters tested included: Roof profile, Roof ventilation, Number of floors, glazing’s Light to Solar Gain ratio (LSG) and the Thermal insulation of the building envelope. The impact of using light sensors was also studied. The light sensors and the roof’s thermal insulation resulted in the highest reduction of the atrium’s energy, 8.5% and 7.5%, respectively. Increasing the number of floors reduced the energy consumption by 5% per unit area. The roof profile, external wall’s thermal insulation and height of the atrium resulted in similar energy reductions of 3.5% each. The external glazing’s LSG reduced the energy consumption by 3.25% while the roof ventilation resulted in a reduction of 1.3%. The internal glazing’s LSG did not affect the atrium’s total energy consumption. An optimal combination of the parameters studies resulted in an energy reduction of about 20%. Thus, this paper presents the optimal design configuration to reduce the energy consumption of an atrium located in a hot and arid climate.

Key words： Atrium; Hot arid; Energy efficiency; Computer simulation