Exploring the Cooling Potential of Ventilated Mask Walls in Neo-Vernacular Architecture: A Case Study of Andre Ravereau's Dwellings in M'zab Valley, Algeria

This study investigates the thermal performance of the ventilated mask wall used in the low-income neo-vernacular dwellings designed by Andre Ravereau to cope with the warm desert climate conditions of M'zab Valley, Ghardaia, in southern Algeria. This device is a ventilated facade provided with an opaque external massive cladding. It is designed to be particularly efficient in hot climates, functioning simultaneously as a brise-soleil and a ventilated facade, compared with conventional facade systems. Based on a typical experiment conducted during the summertime (12-14 August), a residential unit in Sidi Abbaz selected as a case study was modeled and calibrated using EnergyPlus (v8.4) software, and then a dynamic simulation was performed in order to assess the efficiency of the ventilated mask wall as a cooling strategy. By means of the validated thermal model, various alternatives for the facade materials were investigated, and the thermal behavior of the current ventilated mask wall was compared with a 45 cm thick limestone facade wall, and a 30 cm thick hollow clay brick wall under the same conditions. Countless benefits were achieved by the application of the mask wall system, including a stable and less fluctuant inner surface temperature, and a reduction in the incoming summer heat flux. The improvements performed, in particular the time lag of 12 h and the related decrement factor of 0.28 indicate the effectiveness of this wall system, which enabled radiant temperature drops of more than 10 degrees C, and an air temperature decrease of about 6 degrees C, during the summer sunniest hours. The results demonstrate that this solution is suitable for buildings design applications to meet the objective of low-energy demand in warm desert climates.