Assessing the impact of courtyards in cooling energy demand in buildings

Abstract Sustainable passive design strategies can reduce the energy consumption of buildings. In this regard, inner courtyards act as microclimate modifiers that enhance the perception of comfort in the surrounding environment. The present study, through a pooled analysis of experimental and numerical data, intends to assess the beneficial effect that the courtyards have in reducing the energy consumption of the buildings, especially for cooling demand. Accordingly, a new methodology allowing the use of different experimental data for facades and courtyards in software tools for the assessment of the real energy performance of buildings with courtyards is proposed. Besides, a detailed example of the application of the proposed methodology is performed for two scenarios simultaneously: a case study (considering the courtyard effect on the air temperature) and a reference one (without considering this effect). From the results, it is found that the courtyard reduces the demand for cooling in the spaces bordering it. As expected, the magnitude of the cooling demand reduction is correlated to the floor level, is increased at lower floors in the courtyard building. This relative reduction is up to 11%, being, for the case study analyzed, an average reduction of 7%.