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Effect of depth of sinking on thermal performance of partially underground building
Author(s) -
Deshmukh M. K.,
Sodha M. S.,
Sawhney R. L.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.4440150506
Subject(s) - glazing , cold climate , environmental science , degree (music) , shading , dry climate , thermal , wetting , thermal comfort , atmospheric sciences , meteorology , materials science , geology , geography , composite material , art , visual arts , physics , acoustics
Abstract The thermal performance of a direct earth‐coupled building is evaluated for different depths below grade in terms of the discomfort index defined as the total of heating degree hours in winter and cooling degree hours in summer. The effectiveness of different surface treatments (namely shading, wetting, blackening and glazing, commensurate with the type of climate of the region (Jayashankar et al. 1989)) for improving the thermal conditions inside the room is also evaluated for four different climates. The four climates considered are composite, hot and dry, cold and humid and cold and dry, typified by the New Delhi, Jodhpur, Srinagar and Leh climates, respectively. For all climates considered in the paper, it is shown that the discomfort index decreases with increasing depth of the floor below grade, irrespective of the nature of the surrounding earth surface treatment. A wet‐shaded surface in hot climates and a dry‐sunlit blackened and glazed surface in cold climates improve the thermal performance of the buildings significantly.