Thermal conditions and daylight availability in different zones of courtyard buildings; a study in Iran

Passive design strategies enhance indoor thermal comfort and reduce energy consumption in buildings located in hot climates. Thus, exploring the various zones of a house's yard can yield valuable insights for devising a plan that achieves high energy and lighting efficiency. This study examines the climate-responsive design strategies of 20 traditional courtyard buildings in Birjand's hot and dry climate. These courtyard houses informed modelling a new hypothetical house in DesignBuilder. Two main orientations (45 degrees = NE-SW, and 315 degrees = NW-SE) were used for comparing their impact on indoor air temperature, solar gain and daylight factor across various courtyard zones. The findings indicate that during winter, the interiors of courtyard houses maintain a temperature higher than the exterior, while in summer, they remain cooler than outside conditions. Concerning the influence of orientation on indoor climates, the NE-SW orientation yielded the greatest solar gains for windows in the northern and western zones. Conversely, in the NW-SE orientation, the most substantial solar gains were recorded for windows in the northern and eastern zones. Additionally, the study noted a marginal variation in the daylight factor across different zones of the courtyard houses when comparing the two orientations.