The effect of atrium configurations on energy usage in high-rise office buildings in semi-arid climate of Tehran
The building sector is responsible for at least 30% of energy use in most countries worldwide (UN environment, 2017) and around 33% of energy is used by HVAC systems in buildings (Salib & Wood, 2013). As a passive design element, an atrium has the potential to naturally provide heating and cooling, as well as adequate daylight, in arid and temperate climates. Moreover, a naturally ventilated atrium has also proven to be a useful environmental feature in tall building design (Moosavi et al., 2014; Salib & Wood, 2013; Sharples & Bensalem, 2001). This thesis investigated the impact of different configurations of atria on the energy performance of tall office buildings in Tehran. Despite having a rich history of climatic conscious design, the contemporary architecture of the Middle East, and Iran as one of the countries in this region, has witnessed excessive energy use (Holford & Hunt, 2003). The building sector in Iran consumes six times more energy in comparison to that of average European countries (Asgar, 2014a). Moreover, the HVAC sector in Iran uses 61% of the energy in office buildings (IFCO Iranain organization for Fuel Consumption Optimisation in the country, 2010). Providing thermal comfort via passive means is a challenge for tall buildings situated in semi-arid climates and therefore, the atria design for this region is of utmost importance. In this thesis, different types of atria are incorporated into square and rectangular plan tall office buildings and their performances are examined when the buildings are only naturally ventilated throughout the year. The outputs are compared to when HVAC assists the naturally ventilated buildings, and for this, a Dynamic Thermal Simulation (DTS) tool, called Design Builder, has been used. This thesis utilises a Design Science research method. A number of scenarios were simulated with different atria configurations for square and rectangular plan buildings. The outcome of the simulation showed that the atria located on the north and west façades generally perform more efficiently in minimising heat loss. It was also concluded that rectangular plan models generally perform more efficiently than square plan models in terms of lowering energy load and ensuring fewer uncomfortable hours. Amongst the rectangular plan models, the lowest heating and cooling load prototypes had a reduction of 66.65% in energy load. Meanwhile, amongst the square plan models the lowest heating and cooling load prototype had a reduction of 33.71% in energy load.
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