DESIGN OF A LOW COST HOUSE USING LOCAL MATERIAL COUPLED TO MECHANICAL -EARTH TUBE VENTILATION SYSTEM

Abstract

The building sector accounts for 50% of the total worldwide energy consumption. This percentage is expected to increase with the population growth and climate change compounding the problem of dwindling in energy resources. One means of mitigating the increase in energy consumption is by relying on natural ventilation systems for thermal comfort purposes and on the applications of natural (as compared to processed and manufactured) and recycled materials in building construction. Nonetheless, the use of natural ventilation systems with energy efficient construction materials and building envelope cannot always ensure thermal comfort conditions throughout the whole year. Additional systems are sometimes necessary to aid in providing continuous thermal comfort, year round. One such system, the Earth to Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE), has been found to have the potential of providing indoor comfort at reduced energy cost. In this paper, different scenarios for natural building materials coupled with an earth tube heat exchanger are investigated with the aim of reducing the operational energy of a typical house in Lebanon. It is found that use of an optimal wall configuration when coupled with the EAHE results in 76.7% energy savings compared to reference case