The Adaptation of the "Porous Residential Building Model" to Hot Dry Climates

The "porous residential building" model has been proposed as a method of improving natural ventilation and reducing the cooling load in new buildings designed in dense cities located in hot humid climates. Conversely, in hot dry climates such a method would only introduce hot dry air indoors, producing discomfort. This research aims to investigate the adaptation of the porous residential building model to a hot dry climate, introduced as a retrofit method to improve the comfort conditions experienced in the introduced voids. A typical residential block located at the centre of Athens is selected and examined using the ENVI-met microclimatic software in order to assess the model's impact on the building's cooling load and the PET thermal index experienced inside the introduced voids. This research concludes that the conversion of the case study's corridors, into shaded outdoors spaces incorporating dense vegetated walls, constitutes an effective adaptation process of the proposed model.