Evaluating the sustainable features of vernacular architecture in hot-arid regions: field surveys and analysis in two vernacular houses in Al Batinah region (Oman)

ABSTRACT

The necessity to derive sustainable building solutions from the local vernacular architecture is being increasingly asserted in the global debate about the immense energy consumption, natural resources depletion, and high levels of Green House Emissions (GHG). Paradoxically, a limited number of research has addressed this issue in the arid hot regions and much less in the Arabian Peninsula. As a contribution to this debate, the present paper evaluates the sustainable features present in the Omani vernacular houses and their efficacy in terms of thermal comfort and energy performance. A Methodology that combines on-site measurements with modelling simulations, using DesignBuilder software, was applied to achieve the three objectives assigned to this study: (a) Characterization of Vernacular Architecture in Oman and its bioclimatic features, (b) Evaluation of the thermal and energy performance of a selected vernacular house. (c) A comparison of thermal and energy performance between a vernacular dwelling and a contemporary Omani house. The numerical simulation confirmed that the vernacular construction system provides enhanced thermal performance when compared to its modern counterpart. It has also been showed that the house with a vernacular construction system requires twice less cooling energy than its modern counterpart.

KEYWORDS:

• Bioclimatic architecture
• building energy performance
• passive design strategies
• thermal comfort
• vernacular architecture

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism and the Sultan Qaboos University (CR/ENG/CIVIL/14/08).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Falaj (pl. Aflaj): a manmade water channel, also known as Qanat (Iran), Fouggara (Algeria). The Falaj systems have existed as early as the first millennium BC, with settlements connected to their paths and traces of agricultural activities around them.

2 In this study, ‘Modern’ and ‘contemporary’ refer to the construction systems commonly used in Oman after the 1970s (concrete, cement, and glass, with aluminum or PVC frames

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Sultan Qaboos University [grant number CR/ENG/CIVIL/14/08].