Passive environmental design of an eco-house in the hot-humid climate of the Middle East: A qualitative approach

Figures & data

Figure 1. Mean average temperature for each month in Muscat

Figure 2. Mean average humidity for each month in Muscat

Figure 3. Average temperature for January in Muscat

Figure 4. Average relative humidity for January in Muscat

Figure 5. Average temperature for June in Muscat

Figure 6. Average relative humidity for June in Muscat

Figure 7. Yearly temperature and relative humidity in Muscat

Figure 8. Annual wind roses for Muscat

Figure 9. ASHRAE psychrometric chart

Figure 10. Tree type cylindrical height (T11)

Figure 11. Tree type cylindrical medium (T12)

Figure 12. Tree type cylindrical low (T13)

Figure 13. Tree type umbrella high, medium, and low (T3)

Figure 14. Climbers on treillisse type (T41)

Figure 15. Climbers’ plants on gazebos (T42)

Figure 16. Tree type hedges (T51)

Figure 17. Tree type flower beds (T61)

Figure 18. Grass and pavement ground cover types (T7 and T8)

Table 1. Classification of trees geometric morphology

Code	Type	Sub code	Subtype	Diameter meter	Height meter
T1	Cylindrical	T11	Cylindrical high	3	8
		T12	Cylindrical medium	2	6
		T13	Cylindrical low	1.5	4.5
T2	Spherical	T21	Spherical high	4	5
		T22	Spherical medium	3	3
		T23	Spherical low	2	2
T3	Umbrella	T31	Umbrella high	4	10
		T32	Umbrella medium	4	7
		T33	Umbrella low	2.5	5
T4	Climbers	T41	Climbers-Trellises	-	unlimited
		T42	Climbers-Gazebos	-	unlimited
T5	Hedges	T51	Hedges	-	1.5
T6	Flower bed	T61	Flower bed-1
T7	Grass	T71	Grass-1
		T71	Grass-2
T8	Pavement	T81	Pavement-1
		T82	Pavement-2

Figure 19. Artificial sky laboratory

Figure 20. Eco-house landscape plan with the location of plants

Table 2. Thermal conductivity (k) of selected materials

Materials	English Units (Btu/in.)/(hr./ft.^2/°F)	Metric Units W/(m^2/°C)
Polyurethane foam	0.11–0.14	0.016–0.020
Polystyrene foam	0.17–0.28	0.024–0.040
softwoods	0.80	0.12
Other plastics	1–2	0.14–0.28
Plate glass	5	0.72
Hardwood	1.10–0.16	0.16–0.02
Brick	9	1.3
concrete	12	1.7
Steel, stainless	100	14
Steel, carbon	300–500	43–70
Aluminum alloys	800–1600	115–230
Copper alloys	500–2500	70–360