ARTICLE IN PRESS

Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104

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Passive cooling effects of courtyards

H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori
School of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Blvd., Tehran, Iran
Received 9 August 2003; received in revised form 7 October 2003; accepted 30 April 2004

Abstract

The passive cooling effects of a courtyard of a small building were determined numerically, employing an energy-analysis software
developed for that purpose. The passive cooling features considered were the shading effects of courtyard walls and two large trees
(of various shapes) planted immediately next to the south wall of the building, the presence of a pool, a lawn and flowers in the yard,
and the wind shading effects of the walls and trees. It was found that these features alone cannot maintain thermal comfort during
the hot summer hours in Tehran, but reduce the cooling energy requirements of the building to some extent. They have an adverse
effect of increasing the heating energy requirements of the building slightly. The same savings in cooling energy needs of the building
can be obtained through many features such as wall and roof insulation, double-glazed windows, Persian Blinds, and special sealing
tapes to reduce infiltration. They all save on heating energy requirements as well.
r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Courtyard; Passive cooling; Building energy analysis

1. Introduction infiltration of hot and often dusty winds to the rooms.

The use of courtyards in residential buildings in Iran,
and other countries in the Middle East, is many
centuries old [1–4]. The courtyards provided security
and privacy for the residents, and daylight for the rooms
and basements which were built around them.
By building a pool in the middle and by planting trees
(often fruit trees) in the yard, the architects created a
very pleasant space for the residents to spend a portion
of their time during summer months in the yard, sitting
by the pool and the garden, taking their morning
breakfasts, afternoon snacks and suppers. In short,
courtyards were very pleasant living spaces for the
people.
In addition to the above features, courtyards provided
other benefits in the hot-arid climates. With their tall
walls, the rooms (built around the courtyard) provided
wind shading effects for one another, thus reducing the
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mbahadori@ias.ac.ir (M.N. Bahadori).
With their trees, flowers, shrubs and a pool of water, the
courtyards created a micro-environment, a few degrees
lower in air temperature and slightly higher in relative
humidity. Furthermore, the tall trees in the courtyards
shaded the walls and the ground from the intense direct
solar radiation of summer. All these features reduced the
heat gains of the building.
To investigate the passive cooling effects of court-
yards thoroughly, it would be necessary to build two
identical buildings, equip one of them with a courtyard
of desirable features, and measure the cooling energy
requirements of the buildings with and without the
courtyard.
Another method would be to consider the two
identical buildings and simulate the conditions described
above for one of the buildings and determine the energy
needs of both buildings. In this way, we can determine
the energy conservation resulted by any of the courtyard
features. To validate the results obtained by the
computer simulation, we can then build the building
with the courtyard and with various energy conservation

0360-1323/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2004.04.014
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
90 H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104
measures incorporated in it, and make energy con-
sumption measurements of the building, and compare
these results with those obtained from the computer
simulation.
We plan to construct a building with a courtyard,
employing all the energy conservation features men-
tioned above. This building to be called Green Building
is to utilize solar energy to meet all its energy needs.
The Green Building was designed and its cooling
energy requirements with and without the conservation
measures and the passive cooling features of the
courtyard were estimated, employing the energy-analy-
sis software developed for this purpose. The results of
this energy analysis are reported in this paper. The
actual construction of the Green Building is to start
shortly in Tehran, near the Campus of Sharif University
of Technology.
2. Description of the building
The building under consideration is a one-storey
building, 15 m long in east–west direction, and 8 m wide.
It has a basement of equal dimensions to be used as a
lecture hall. It has a courtyard, 15
10 m in dimensions,
located in the south side of the building. The courtyard
is equipped with a pool of water, 7:5
4 m in dimen-
Fig. 1. Plan of the Main Building. All dimensions are in meter.
sions, located just in the middle of the yard, a garden
with 90 m2 area and walkways with 30 m2 area. Flowers
and shrubs are planted in the garden, and the walkways
are covered with bricks. Two tall trees are planted near
the south wall of the building.
The building was initially designed as a small
residence, but it was later modified to be used as a
small office space for passive heating and cooling studies
at the university. Figs. 1 and 2 show the plan and a cross
section of the building. Photovoltaic panels, to meet
the electrical energy needs of the building, are shown
in Fig. 2.
The energy conservation measures employed in the
Green Building are:
 Insulation of the external walls and roof on the
outside.
 Insulation of the building perimeter.
 Special sealants to reduce the size of the cracks in the
windows and doors.
 Double-glazed windows.
 Externally-mounted blinds, called Persian Blinds, to
cover the windows during the days in summer and
during the nights in winter.
 Curtains to cover the windows and the exposed walls
during summer days and winter nights. These curtains
are to be high enough to touch the ceiling on top and
the floor on the bottom.
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H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104
Fig. 2. A north–south cross section of the Main Building. Solar panels and a wind tower can be seen in this figure.
The passive cooling of the courtyard consists of the
following features:
 The shading effects of the walls of the courtyard on
the ground and on the south-facing wall and windows
of the building.
 The shading effects of the trees on the ground
and on the south-facing walls and windows of the
building.
 The effects of the pool, the lawn, shrubs and flowers
in lowering the courtyard ground temperature.
 The wind-shading effects of the courtyard walls and
trees on the infiltration rate of air through the
building.
The savings in the cooling energy needs of the
building due to the passive cooling features of the
courtyard were determined and were compared with
those of the energy conservation measures (such as wall
and roof insulation, double-glazed windows, etc.) which
were incorporated in the building design.
3. Development of an energy-analysis software
There are a number of computer softwares available
commercially for the energy analysis of buildings. To
provide a detailed analysis of the thermal performance
of the courtyard, it was necessary to develop a special
software with the desired capabilities. In addition to the
91
normal energy analysis capabilities, the software was
expected to perform the following tasks:
1. Estimate the dimensions of the shadows cast by
the courtyard walls and trees on the courtyard floor
and on the south-facing wall and windows of the
building.
2. Estimate the evaporation and the cooling effect of the
pool and the temperature of the soil directly under it.
3. Estimate the evaporation from the soil surface of the
garden, and determine its effects on the ground
temperature regime of the courtyard.
4. Determine the wind-shading effects of the courtyard
walls and trees on the building walls, and estimate the
infiltration rates with variable wind directions.
3.1. Consideration of thermal- and flow-networks for the
building
We considered a thermal network for the heat flow
and a flow network for the airflow through the building
[5]. In these networks we considered various nodes in the
building. The heat flow between any two nodes may be
expressed by
Q_ ¼ DT=Rth ð1Þ
and the airflow between any two nodes by
V_ ¼ Dp=Rfl : ð2Þ
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92 H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104

Fig. 5. A portion of the thermal network representing the ceiling

exchanging heat by thermal radiation with the east wall, door and
window.
Fig. 3. The thermal network representing the room air exchanging
heat by convection with the surrounding surfaces.

Fig. 6. A portion of the thermal network representing the south

Fig. 4. A portion of the thermal network representing the room air glazing receiving solar energy and exchanging heat with the sky and
exchanging heat by convection with the east wall, door and window. the surrounding ground by thermal radiation.

In these equations Q_ represents the rate of heat

transfer, DT the temperature difference, Rth the thermal
resistance between the nodes, V_ the air flow rate, Dp the
pressure difference and Rfl is the flow resistance between
the nodes.
Figs. 3–8 show the thermal networks for various parts
of one of the rooms of the building, and Fig. 9 the flow
network for the entire building. Fig. 3 represents the
network for the room air, exchanging heat by convec-
tion with different surfaces, receiving sensible heat and
latent heat from internal sources, and from the outside
air through infiltration. Fig. 4 shows a detailed thermal
network between the room air and the east wall,
windows and doors. Similar detailed networks were Fig. 7. The thermal network representing the south wall of one of the
considered between the room air and other walls (and rooms.
their windows and doors), the ceiling and the floor of the
room under consideration. Fig. 5 shows a portion of the
network for thermal radiation exchange between the of this radiation (represented by Q_ sol;s ) is transmitted
ceiling and east wall, and the windows and doors. through, part is absorbed ðQ_ abs;s Þ and part is reflected
Similar detailed networks were considered between ðQ_ ref ;s;gs Þ. This glazing also exchanges thermal radiation
various surfaces of the room under consideration [6]. with the ground and the sky. The solar radiation
Fig. 6 shows the thermal network accounting for the through the south glazing is distributed to other
solar radiation ðQ_ s;s;gs Þ reaching the south glazing. Part surfaces. For simplification purposes, we assumed that
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H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104
Fig. 8. The thermal network representing the south wall of one of the
rooms equipped with a curtain. Point S represents the inside surface of
the wall and point C 0 the curtain.
Fig. 9. The flow network representing the building. Points e, n, w, etc.
represent the openings for airflow in the east, north, west, etc. walls of
the building.
the solar radiation which reached any surface was
proportional to the radiation shape factor of the glazing
and that surface. For example, the solar radiation
received by the north wall, and that received by the floor
are given by
Q_ sol;sn ¼ F gsn Q_ sol;s ; ð3Þ
Q_ sol;sf ¼ F gsf Q_ sol;s ; ð4Þ
where F gsn and F gsf represent the shape factors of the
south-facing glass with respect to the north wall and the
floor, respectively.
Fig. 7 shows the thermal network of the south wall.
On the outside (represented by node 1) the wall receives
solar radiation during the day and has convective
exchange with the outside air and radiative exchanges
with the sky and the ground. On the inside (represented
by node S) the wall has convective exchange with the
room air and radiative exchanges with all surfaces and
objects in the room, including people and equipment.
(It should be added that for simplification purposes
one-dimensional heat conduction was considered in
each wall).
93
Fig. 8 shows the thermal network of the south wall
equipped with a curtain on the inside. In this figure,
node 1 represents the outside surface of the wall, node S
the inside surface and node C 0 the curtain. The heat
transfer by convection and radiation, with thermal
resistance of Rc and Rr , were considered between the
curtain and the wall in front of it. In front, the curtain
exchanges heat by convection with the room air, and by
radiation with surfaces in the room (including people
and equipment).
Similar thermal networks were considered for all the
rooms of the building, including the basement. How-
ever, only one flow network was considered for the
entire building. Through a flow network analysis, the
outside air entering the building was estimated and the
heat gain due to this infiltration was then determined.
3.2. Development of the governing equations for the
energy analysis of the building
We applied the first and second laws of thermo-
dynamics to various nodes in the thermal networks
considered for all the rooms of the building. Below we
present a few of the governing equations:
For node (i) in Fig. 3, representing the room air, we
can write the following equation:
X
hc;c Ac ðT c  T i Þ þ hc;e Ae ðT e  T i Þ
e
X X
þ hc;s As ðT s  T i Þ þ hc;w Aw ðT w  T i Þ
s w
X
þ hc;n An ðT n  T i Þ þ hc;f Af ðT f  T i Þ
n
þ ro V_ o C p ðT o  T i Þ þ Q_ i;sen
dT i
þ Q_ i;lat ¼ ri V i C v ; ð5Þ
dt
where hc represents convective heat transfer coefficient,
A the area, T the temperature, r the density, C p and C v
the specific heats of air at constant pressure and
constant volume, respectively, V the volume of the
room, V_ the volumetric flow rate of air and Q_ i;sen and
Q_ i;lat the rates of sensible heat and latent heat generation
by people and equipment, respectively. In this equation,
subscripts i and o refer to inside and outside air,
respectively, and subscripts c; f ; e; n; s and w refer,
respectively, to ceiling, floor and east, north, south
and west walls (and doors and windows, if present in the
walls).
Along with Eq. (5) we can write the following
equation to account for the water vapor balance in the
room air:
dðoi Þ
ro V_ o ðoo  oi Þ þ m
_ v ¼ ri V i ; ð6Þ
dt
where o is the moisture content and m_ v is the rate of
moisture generation in the room. In Eq. (5) the latent
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94 H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104

heat generated by people and the equipment in the room
is Q_ i;lat ¼ m
_ v h0i , where h0i is the enthalpy of the generated
vapor.
For solar radiation reaching a south window, we have
the following relation:
I s Ags ¼ I ref ;s;gs Ags þ I abs;s;gs Ags þ I sol;s Ags ; ð7Þ
where I refers to the solar radiation intensity, A the area
and subscripts s for the south-facing window, gs for the
glazing, ref for that portion of solar radiation reflected,
and abs to that portion absorbed by the glass. In this
equation I sol;s Ags ¼ Q_ sol;s represents the total solar
radiation which passes through south-facing glass and
enters the room.
For the node representing the south-facing glazing,
we can write the following equation (see Fig. 6):
Q_ abs;s;gs  hr;gssky Ags ðT gs  T sky Þ
 hr;gsgrd Ags ðT gs  T grd Þ  hr;gsc Ags ðT gs  T c Þ
X
 hr;gsf Ags ðT gs  T f Þ  hr;gswi Ags ðT gs  T wi Þ
i
dT gs
 hc Ags ðT gs  T i Þ ¼ rgs Ags Dgs C gs ; ð8Þ
dt
where hr is the radiative heat transfer coefficient, r the
density, D the thickness ad C the specific heat of the
glazing. Subscripts sky and grd refer to the sky and the
ground, respectively, and w to a wall, door or window in
the room that the south-facing glazing can have
radiative heat exchange with.
The equivalent sky temperature may be determined
from [7]:
T sky ¼ T o ð0:8 þ 0:004T dp Þ0:25 ; ð9Þ
where T o and T sky are in degrees Kelvin, and the dew
point temperature T dp is in degrees Celsius.
For node (1) or the external surface of the south-
facing wall in Fig. 7, we have the following equation:
I abs;s;w As;w  hr;s;wsky As;w ðT 1  T sky Þ
 hr;s;wgrd As;w ðT 1  T grd Þ
ðT 1  T 2 Þ
 ho;s;w As;w ðT 1  T o Þ  ks;w As;w
D0s;w
For node ðSÞ, representing inside surface of the south
wall in Fig. 7, we have the following relation:
T5  Ts
ks;w As;w þ hc;s;w As;w ðT i  T s Þ
D0s;w
þ hr;s;wc As;w ðT c  T s Þ þ hr;s;wf As;w ðT f  T s Þ
X
þ hr;s;wwi ðT wi  T s Þ þ Q_ i;rads
i
D0s;w dT s
¼ rs;w As;w C s;w : ð12Þ
2 dt
In this equation Q_ i;rads represents that portion of the
heat generated by the people and equipment in the room
which is in the form of thermal radiation that is received
by node S. Similar relations were written for the doors
and other walls of the building.
3.3. Heat transfer through ground in courtyard and the
basement
To determine the heat transfer through the ground,
we considered a portion of the soil 10 m away from each
of the building walls and 10 m deep, and assumed that
the building has heat transfer with this portion of the
soil [6]. That is, considering that the building has a floor
of 15
8 m, the dimensions of the soil considered was
35
28 m with a depth of 10 m. Furthermore, we
assumed that there was no heat transfer at the
boundaries of this soil with the surrounding ground
[6]. Fig. 10 shows a vertical cross section of the ground
in east–west direction. This figure also shows the nodes
(represented by dots) considered in the ground, and
their spacing from each other. In this figure node A is at
the ground level and node B is directly under node A at
A
2.75

D0s;w dT 1
¼ rs;w As;w C s;w ; ð10Þ
2 dt B
10 m

where k is the thermal conductivity, r the density and C

11.2

the specific heat of the wall material, D0 the spacing

between the two adjacent nodes in the wall. Other terms
and the subscripts have been defined before.
For node (2) inside the wall, we have:
T1  T2 T3  T2 7.5 m 10 m
ks;w As;w þ ks;w As;w
D0s;w D0s;w
Fig. 10. An east-west cross section through the portion of the soil
dT 2 around the building considered for energy analysis. The nodes are
¼ rs;w As;w D0s;w C s;w : ð11Þ
dt represented by dots in this figure.
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H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104 95

(i-1,j) A(i,j) (i+1,j)

z1
(i,j+1)

10 m
(k,l-1)

z2

4m
(k-1,l) B(k,l) (k+1,l)
z3
7.5 m 10 m
(k,l+1)
Node A
x1 x2

Fig. 11. A horizontal cross section at a depth of 1.1 m from the ground Fig. 13. A vertical cross section of the soil, showing the nodes A and B
showing the nodes for 1/4 of the soil around the building. and their surrounding nodes.

A has energy exchange with nodes with ði þ 1; jÞ, ði 

1; jÞ and ði; j þ 1Þ coordinates, and with the ambient air,
the sun and sky. On the other hand, node B has heat
exchange with nodes with coordinates ðk þ 1; lÞ,
ðk  1; lÞ, ðk; l  1Þ and ðk; l þ 1Þ.
We can write the following energy equations for
1 nodes A and B in Fig. 13. For node A we have:
A1
2 I h agrd A1  hr;grdsky A1 ðT i;j  T sky Þ
A2
y1 y2 y3 þ hc;grd A1 ðT o  T i;j Þ  Q_ n þ kgrd ðT iþ1;j  T i;j Þ
x2
A3 A1
(i-1,j) A(i,j) (i+1,j) þ kgrd ðT i1;j  T i;j Þ þ kgrd ðT i;jþ1  T i;j Þ
x1 z1
(k-1,l) B(k,l) (k+1,l) z1 dT i;j
¼ rgrd A1 C grd ð13Þ
2 dt
Fig. 12. A portion of the horizontal cross section, showing the nodes
A and B and their surrounding nodes. Node B is directly under and for node B:
node A.
A1 A1
kgrd ðT k;l1  T k;l Þ þ kgrd ðT k;lþ1  T k;l Þ
z2 z3
A4 A5
a depth of 2:05 m. As can be seen from this figure, the þ kgrd ðT kþ1;l  T k;l Þ þ kgrd ðT k1;l  T k;l Þ
x2 x1
nodes are closer to each other near the building wall and dT k;l
floor. Fig. 11 shows a horizontal cross section of 14 of the ¼ rgrd A1 z0 C grd : ð14Þ
dt
basement and the surrounding soil, at a depth of 1.1 m
from the courtyard floor. Fig. 12 is a horizontal cross In these equations, kgrd ; C grd and rgrd represent
section, where node B is directly under A. Fig. 13 is a thermal conductivity, specific heat and density of the
vertical cross section of the ground, showing nodes A ground, respectively, agrd the solar absorptivity of the
and B, and their surrounding nodes in the vertical plane. ground, hc and hr the convective and radiative heat
The coordinates of nodes A and B are represented by transfer coefficients, Q_ n the evaporation (if any) from
ði; jÞ and ðk; lÞ, respectively. These nodes have heat the soil surface, T the temperature, I h solar radiation
exchange with their surrounding nodes. The surround- intensity on the ground. Dimensions x1 and x2 as well as
ing nodes are partially shown in Figs. 12 and 13. Node z1 ; z2 and z3 are shown in Fig. 13. Referring to Figs. 12
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
96 H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104

and 13, we have the following relations for A1 to A5 and July15

1
for z0 :
A1 ¼ ðy1 þ 2y2 þ y3 Þðx1 þ x2 Þ=4; ð15Þ South Wall
0.8 East Wall
Total
A2 ¼ ðy2 þ y3 Þðz1 =2Þ; ð16Þ

Shaded Area / Ac
A3 ¼ ðy1 þ y2 Þðz1 =2Þ; ð17Þ 0.6

A4 ¼ ðy2 þ y3 Þðz2 þ z3 Þ=2; ð18Þ

0.4

A5 ¼ ðy1 þ y2 Þðz2 þ z3 Þ=2; ð19Þ

z0 ¼ ðz2 þ z3 Þ=2: ð20Þ 0.2

Referring to Figs. 10–13 we have the following values

for x, y, and z (all dimensions are in m). 0
8 9 10 11 12
x1 ¼ 0:5; x2 ¼ 1; Time (hr)

y1 ¼ 5:0; y2 ¼ 5:5; y3 ¼ 6:5; January 15

1
z1 ¼ 0:1; z2 ¼ 0:15; z3 ¼ 0:25: ð21Þ
It should be added that a portion of the ground South Wall
0.8 East Wall
surface may be shaded during certain hours of the day. Total
In such a case, values of diffuse radiation were
considered for the shaded area. Similarly, when a Shaded Area / Ac 0.6
portion of the soil surface was dry, Q_ n was considered
zero for that portion. When the soil was wet and
evaporation took place from its surface, thermal 0.4

conductivity of the moist soil was considered [6].

0.2
3.4. Determination of the shaded areas in the courtyard
and on the south wall of the building
0
8 9 10 11 12
Energy analysis of the building was performed
Time (hr)
considering various conditions for the soil around it.
To determine the passive cooling effects of the court- Fig. 14. The portion of the courtyard floor shaded by its south and
yard, we considered the yard to have walls 3 m high. The east (or west) walls. The walls are 3 m high and the courtyard has a
flow area of Ac ¼ 150 m2 .
presence and dimensions of the pool of water, the
garden and sidewalks were given in Section 2. We
1
considered the presence of two trees of various shapes
immediately next to the south wall of the building. We July 15
January 15
further assumed that except for the courtyard located 0.8
directly south of the building, the soil surrounding the
Shaded Area / Ac

building was barren and dry, with no trees, shrubs or

grass on it. 0.6

During sunny hours of the day different walls of the

courtyard cast shadows on the yard floor and on the
0.4
south wall of the building. The same is true for the trees
in front of the south wall of the building.
Knowing the latitude of the location and the day of 0.2
the year and time of the day, we determined the sun
angles, and calculated the areas of the yard and the
0
south wall of the building which were shaded at any time 8 9 10 11 12
[8]. Figs. 14 and 15 show the areas of the courtyard and Time (hr)
south wall of the building shaded by the courtyard walls
Fig. 15. The portion of the south-facing wall of the building shaded by
on the 15th of the months of July and January. Fig. 14 the east (or west) wall of the courtyard. The south wall of the
gives the ratio of the shaded areas of the courtyard to courtyard casts no shadows on the south wall of the building. The area
the total area of the yard. (The total area of the of south wall of the building is As ¼ 54:75 m2 .
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H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104 97

courtyard is 150 m2 ). This figure was drawn for the

morning hours, but can be used for the afternoon hours South Wall
as well. It also shows that on January 15 all the
courtyard area is shaded from sunrise to 8 am (and from
4 pm to sunset).
On July 15 sun rises from northeast, and the south
wall of the building (located in Tehran) is shaded until
8:12 am. Furthermore, this wall casts its shadows on the
courtyard floor. East wall of the courtyard also casts
shadows on the ground during this period. The presence
of these shadows was considered in the energy analysis
of the building and the courtyard. However, they are not Courtyard
shown in Fig. 14. This figure includes only the shadows Time = 09:00
cast by the east and south walls of the courtyard, Time = 10:00
Time = 11:00
beginning when the south wall of the building begins to Time = 12:00

see the sun. July 15 - Spherical Trees

Fig. 15 shows the portion of the south wall of the
building shaded by the east wall of the courtyard. (The
area of the south wall of the building is 54:75 m2 .)
Fig. 16 shows a vertical section of the building with the
three types of trees considered in this study. The solar
beams are drawn for July 15 and January 15 at solar
noon. Fig. 17 shows the contours of the shadows cast by
two spherical trees planted in front of the south wall of
the building. This figure shows the shadows on the wall
and on the courtyard floor. It also includes the contours
of the shadows on January 15, if the trees had kept their
leaves. It should be added that the contours are drawn
for the morning hours, but can be used for the afternoon

Time = 09:00
Time = 10:00
Time = 11:00
Time = 12:00
July 15
January15 - Spherical Trees

Fig. 17. The contours of the two spherical trees on the south wall of
the building and the courtyard floor on July 15 and January 15,
assuming that the trees have kept their leaves during this month.

January 15
Fig. 16. A cross section of the building showing the presence of
spherical or cylindrical or conical trees which may be planted to its
south side. The solar beams are drawn for solar noon on July 15 and
January 15, assuming that the trees have kept their leaves during this
month.
hours as well. Figs. 18 and 19 are similar to Fig. 17, but
are drawn for two cylindrical and conical trees,
respectively.
Fig. 20 shows the portion of the south-facing wall of
the building shaded by two trees of cylindrical, spherical
and conical shapes. Fig. 21 shows the portion of the
courtyard floor shaded by two trees of cylindrical,
spherical and conical shapes.
It should be added that in determining the shadows of
the trees on January 15 we have assumed that these trees
have kept their leaves in this month. For the energy
analysis of the building, however, it was assumed that
the trees have no leaves, and cast no shadows during the
heating months.
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98 H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104

Time = 09:00 Time = 09:00

Time = 10:00 Time = 10:00
Time = 11:00 Time = 11:00
Time = 12:00 Time = 12:00
July 15 - Cylindrical Trees July 15 - Conical Trees

Time = 09:00
Time = 10:00 Time = 09:00
Time = 11:00 Time = 10:00
Time = 12:00 Time = 11:00
Time = 12:00
January 15 - Cylindrical Trees
January 15 - Conical Trees

Fig. 18. The contours of the two cylindrical trees on the south wall of
the building and the courtyard floor on July 15 and January 15, Fig. 19. The contours of the two conical trees on the south wall of the
assuming that the trees have kept their leaves during this month. building and the courtyard floor on July 15 and January 15, assuming
that the trees have kept their leaves during this month.

3.5. Determination of the heat transfer coefficients For the external walls [9],

The heat transfer coefficient for surface 1 and 2 rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi

exchanging heat by radiation was obtained from
sðT 21 þ T 22 ÞðT 1 þ T 2 Þ
hr;12 ¼ 11 1 12 A1
; ð22Þ
1 þ F 12 þ 2 A2
where s ¼ 5:67
108 W=m2 K4 is the Stefan–Boltz-
mann constant, A the area,  the emissivity, T the
temperature (in degrees K), F 12 the shape factor and
subscripts 1 and 2 refer to the surfaces 1 and 2,
respectively.
The convection heat transfer coefficients were deter-
mined from the following empirical relations [7,9]:
PV o
ho ¼ 2:357wf Rf þ 1:31DT 0:33 ; ð23Þ
A
where ho is the heat transfer coefficient in W=m2 K, V o
the wind velocity in m/s. A the wall area in m2 , P the
wall perimeter in m, wf is a coefficient, taken as wf ¼ 1
when the wall is facing the wind and wf ¼ 0:5 when the
wall is in the leeward position with respect to the wind,
and Rf is a roughness coefficient, taken as Rf ¼ 1:67 for
brick walls and Rf ¼ 1 for glass. In the above equation
DT is the temperature difference between the wall and
the outside air.
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H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104 99

July 15 July 15
1 1

Cylindrical Cylindrical
Spherical 0.8 Spherical
0.8
Conical Conical

Shaded Area / Ac
Shaded Area / Ac

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0
8 9 10 11 12 8 9 10 11 12
Time (hr) Time (hr)

January 15 January 15
1 1

Cylindrical Cylindrical
0.8 Spherical 0.8
Spherical
Conical Conical

Shaded Area / Ac
Shaded Area / Ac

0.6 0.6

0.4 0.4

0.2 0.2

0 0
8 9 10 11 12 8 9 10 11 12
Time (hr) Time (hr)

Fig. 20. The portion of the area of the south wall of the building Fig. 21. The portion of the area of the courtyard shaded by the trees
shaded by the presence of trees planted to its south side on July 15 and planted just next to the building on July 15 and January 15, assuming
January 15, assuming that the trees have kept their leaves during this that the trees have kept their leaves during this month. Area of the
month. Area of the south wall is As ¼ 54:75 m2 . courtyard is Ac ¼ 150 m2 .

For the roof [7], For vertical enclosures (for example the spaces
ho ¼ 2:8 þ 3V o : ð24Þ between the inside walls and the curtain in front of
them, or the space between the windows and the Persian
For the internal walls [9], Blinds, mounted adjacent to them on the outside) the
following equation was used to determine the natural
hc ¼ 1:31DT 0:33 : ð25Þ convection heat transfer coefficient [7]:
"   
For the ceiling which is at a lower temperature than ka 3790:2 6599:2
the room air [9], hc ¼ 1 þ 1:44 1  1
D Ra Ra
hc ¼ 1:52DT 0:33 ð26Þ  0:333 ! #
Ra
þ 1 ; ð28Þ
and when it is at a higher temperature than the room air 22525:4
[9],
 0:25
DT where ka is thermal conductivity of air in W/m K, D the
hc ¼ 0:59 ; ð27Þ gap in m, and Ra is the Raliegh Number, defined by
L
gDTD3
where L is a characteristic length, equal to the ratio of Ra ¼ 1 ; ð29Þ
2
the area of the surface to 12 of its perimeter. 2 ðT 1 þ T 2 ÞPra
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
100 H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104

where g is the acceleration of gravity in m=s2 , Pr the flowing through the building reduces to
Prandtl number and a is the thermal diffusivity of the air X
V_ j ¼ 0: ð35Þ
in the gap and T 1 and T 2 are temperatures of the
j
surfaces 1 and 2, respectively. The (*) in the above
equation signifies that if the value of that parenthesis Using Eqs. (34) and (35), and knowing the wind
becomes negative, a value of zero should be selected direction and the values of the wind pressure coeffi-
for it [7]. cients, we then determined the rate of air flowing
through the building [6].

3.6. Determination of air flow rate through the building 3.7. Estimation of the hourly ambient air temperature and
due to wind effects solar radiation

Fig. 9 shows the flow network of the building, where For a more accurate estimation of the energy needs of
air may flow through the cracks or openings in the walls the building, we need to employ the weather data
of the building. The airflow through any opening ðjÞ was provided in the files called typical meteorological year
determined from [10]: (TMY). Such files are not available for Tehran, or other
pj  pi cities in Iran. In the absence of TMY files, we employed
V_ j ¼ ; ð30Þ the following relations without much error [11]:
Rij
For the hourly ambient air temperature, we used
where pj indicates the wind pressure, pi the inside air 1
pressure (in excess of the atmospheric pressure) and Rij T T ¼ _  15Þ;
At cos oðt ð36Þ
2
is the resistance for air flowing from an opening ðjÞ to
_ ¼ 2p=24 and T and At are given by
where o
the inside. The wind pressure pj (which is in excess of the
atmospheric pressure) is defined by 1
T¼ ðT x þ T n Þ; ð37Þ
1 2
pj ¼ C pj r V 2; ð31Þ
2 o o At ¼ ðT x  T n Þ: ð38Þ
where ro is the density of the outside air and C pj is the In these equations T x is the mean daily maximum and
wind pressure coefficient on the wall containing the T n the mean daily minimum temperatures recorded by
opening ðjÞ. The values of C pj were determined the Weather Bureau for different months of the year for
experimentally in a boundary-layer wind tunnel. In such many cities. For the hourly solar radiation we used the
an experiment the wind pressure coefficients were following relations [7]:
determined for the building, considering the walls of I h ¼ kT I oh ; ð39Þ
the courtyard and the presence of trees adjacent to the
building [6]. I dh ¼ I h  I bh ; ð40Þ
The airflow resistance Rij was obtained from [10]:  
h i1=2 360N
1 I oh ¼ I sc 1 þ 0:33 cos cos yz ; ð41Þ
2 ro ðpj  pi Þ 365
Rij ¼ ; ð32Þ
Aj C dj
_  12ÞK T ;
kT ¼ ½a þ b cos oðt ð42Þ
2
where Aj is the area of crack on wall ðjÞ (in m ) and C dj a ¼ 0:409 þ 0:5016 sinðos  60Þ; ð43Þ
is called the discharge coefficient. In the above equations
ro is in kg=m3 , and p is in Pa. b ¼ 0:6607 þ 0:4767 sinðos  60Þ; ð44Þ
Defining a wind pressure coefficient according to
1 I dh =I h ¼ 1  0:249kT for kT o0:35; ð45Þ
pi ¼ C pi r V2 ð33Þ
2 o o I dh =I h ¼ 1:557  1:84kT for 0:35okT o0:75; ð46Þ
for the inside air, then by combination of the above
I dh =I h ¼ 0:177 for kT 40:75: ð47Þ
equations the flow rate of air through the opening ðjÞ
was determined by In these equations K T is the mean monthly daily
" # clearness index, kT the hourly clearness index, I oh the
C pj  C pi extraterrestrial solar radiation intensity on a horizontal
V_ j ¼ Aj C dj V o pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi : ð34Þ
jC pj  C pi j surface, I bh ; I dh and I h the beam, diffuse and the total
solar radiation intensity on a horizontal or the ground,
Neglecting the difference between the densities of the I sc ¼ 1353 W=m2 the solar constant, N the day number
outside and inside air, the mass balance of the air (N ¼ 1 for Jan. 1), yz the zenith angle and os is the
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H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104 101

sunset hour angle. The following equations were Table 1

The weather condition of Tehran
employed to determine yz and os :
cos yz ¼ cos d cos f cos o þ sin d sin f; ð48Þ Month T x ð CÞ T n ð CÞ o (gr/kg da) V o (m/s) Wind direction

January 8 0.5 3.3 1.95 N to S

cos os ¼  tan f tan d: ð49Þ February 9.8 1.6 3.47 5.8 W to E
In these equations f is the latitude (f=35.6 for March 14.6 5.7 4.14 6.35 W to E
April 22.4 12 5.29 6.30 W to E
Tehran), d the declination angle, and o the hour angle.
May 27.4 16.5 6.12 5.70 W to E
Angle d was obtained from: June 33.8 21.7 6.78 3.1 SE
  July 36.8 24.6 8.38 3.4 SE
284 þ N
d ¼ 23:45 sin 360 : ð50Þ August 35.7 24.1 8.31 2.95 SE
365 September 31.4 20 6.4 2.95 NE
October 23.8 14 5.56 2.45 NE
The hour angle was determined from the solar noon.
November 17.0 8.4 4.57 4.9 N to S
It is equal to 15 for each hour from the solar noon, December 9.9 2.6 3.8 5.55 W to E
taken as positive in the afternoon and negative before
noon. T x and T n are the mean daily maximum and minimum temperature,
To determine the solar radiation on a wall ðjÞ we used respectively, o is the mean daily moisture content of air and V o is the
mean daily wind velocity.
1 1
I j ¼ Rbj I bh þI dh þ rgr I h ð51Þ
2 2
where rgr represents the reflectivity of the ground estimated, using the day number ðNÞ and the equations
surface seen by the wall ðjÞ and Rb is given by [7] given in Section 3, and by determining if that day was
sunny or cloudy. If the day were sunny, the shadows cast
cos y by the courtyard walls and trees on the ground and the
Rb ¼ ; ð52Þ
cos yz south wall of the building were estimated. It was also
where determined if the various nodes considered in the
thermal network were in the sun or in the shade.
cos y ¼ sin d sin f cos b  sin d cos f sin b cos g Accordingly, appropriate solar radiation intensities were
þ cos d cos f cos b cos o considered for those nodes.
þ cos d sin f sin b cos g cos o Calculations started at hour zero on March 22, the
þ cos d sin b sin g sin o ð53Þ first day of spring (and the first day of the Iranian
Calendar), using the weather data given in Table 1 for

and for walls, b ¼ 90 and for south wall, g ¼ 0. Tehran and it marched through time for the entire year,
estimating the peak energy needs (in kW) and the energy
requirements for any time interval (in MJ or GJ). Inside
4. Solution of the governing equations to estimate the temperatures of 20–25 C were selected as part of the
energy needs of the building thermal comfort. In the energy analysis, anytime the
inside temperature in any of the rooms went above 25 C
A comprehensive thermal network was developed for heat was removed from that room to bring the
all the rooms (including the basement) of the building temperature down to 25 C and the cooling energy
and the ground surrounding it. Equations similar to needs of that room were determined. The same thing
those given in Section 3 were written for all the nodes in was done anytime the temperature of the room went
this network. Various conditions such as the presence of below 20 C, in which case heat was supplied to that
courtyard (with its high walls), trees and shrubs, a pool room to bring the temperature up to that level, and the
of water in the yard, as well as many energy conserva- heating energy needs were estimated.
tion measures were considered. To account for the
effects of cloud on the annual energy needs of the
building, we assumed that from November 11 through 5. The result of the energy simulation for the Green
May 9, in a five-day cycle, there are two consecutive Building
sunny days and three consecutive days of cloudiness,
and from May 10 through November 10, in a six-day To determine the passive cooling effects of the
cycle, there are four consecutive days of sunshine and courtyard on the building of interest, it was first
two days of cloudiness in Tehran. For the sunny and necessary to estimate the cooling energy requirements
cloudy days we considered K T to be 0.7 and 0.2, of the building, and then estimate the cooling energy
respectively. For the ambient air temperature, we saved by each of the passive cooling features of the
considered one day to represent all days of that month. courtyard. These features were the shading effects of the
The solar radiation intensities on various surfaces were courtyard walls and trees on the floor of the courtyard
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
102 H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104

Table 2 January 15, and a value of 0:94 W=m2 K at 3 pm on

The cooling energy needs of various rooms in the main building
July 15, as compared with that of 1:90 W=m2 K at
Room number Month 3 am on January 15 and 2:03 W=m2 K at 3 pm on
July 15 for the single-glazed windows.
June July August September 4. The windows were built using steel frames with cracks
1 2.41 3.42 3.27 2.04 of about 2 mm width. Special sealing tapes were
2 0.94 1.16 1.14 0.71 considered which reduced the crack width by 50%.
3 0.52 0.71 0.69 0.27 5. Persian Blinds were mounted on the outside of the
4 1.22 1.82 1.64 0.73 windows and could be used at anytime during the
5 2.19 3.33 3.15 1.84
day or night.
6 0.34 0.48 0.49 0.18
7 2.74 3.99 3.75 2.20 6. Curtains were high enough to touch the ceiling on
8 0.42 0.58 0.58 0.25 top and the floor at the bottom. Curtains were used
9 0.52 0.73 0.70 0.28 in front of the windows, or covered the entire
10 0.56 0.78 0.75 0.30 exposed walls as well.
11 0.72 2.14 2.40 1.24
7. All conservation measures include all of the above
Monthly 12.58 19.14 18.56 10.04 plus a curtain which covered the windows and the
total GJ/m GJ/m GJ/m GJ/m exposed walls.
8. Ceiling fans were employed in each room to operate
Annual 60.32 when the room air temperature went above 25 C.
total GJ/y
The comfort temperature of 28 C was selected when
a ceiling fan was employed.
and the south wall of the building, the wind shading 9. The courtyard which was located directly south of the
effects of walls and trees, the presence of a pool of water building had walls 3 m high around it. These walls
in the yard and the presence of a garden with shrubs and cast shadows on the courtyard floor and the south-
flowers. facing wall of the building. Except for the yard which
Table 2 gives the monthly and annual cooling energy was located directly south of the building and had a
needs of different rooms of the building. (See Fig. 1 for dimension of 15
10 m, the rest of the land
the room numbers. Room number 11 is the basement). surrounding the building was assumed to be barren.
Table 3 gives the annual energy needs of the building 10. The walls around the courtyard had wind shading
with various energy conservation measures, and the effects on the building, and affected the rate of
passive cooling features of the courtyard. Since some of infiltration. Depending on the direction of the wind,
the passive cooling features have adverse effects on the the wind shading effects reduced or increased this rate.
heating energy needs of the building, the heating energy 11. Two large trees were considered in the yard in front
needs have also been included in this table. of south wall. The trees were of spherical, cylindrical
and conical shapes. Spherical trees had a diameter of
5.1. Description of the energy conservation and the 5 m, the cylindrical trees had a diameter of 5 m and
passive cooling features of the courtyard were 5 m high, and the conical trees had a base
diameter of 5 m and were 5 m high. All trees were
Referring to Table 3, the following descriptions can planted just 2.5 m from the south wall, and were
be provided. The numbers refer to the row numbers in assumed to start their foliage at a height of 1 m.
that table. Figs. 20 and 21 show the shadows cast by the
cylindrical, spherical and conical trees on the south
1. The main building was a one-storey building with wall of the building and the courtyard floor. In these
120 m2 floor area, with a basement of the same figures the shaded areas in January are estimated
dimensions. The basement floor is 1.8 m below the assuming full foliage for the trees. However, for the
ground level, receiving its daylight from its south energy analysis of the building it was assumed that
windows. The height of the south-facing wall is the trees lose their leaves during the heating months.
3.65 m whereas the height of all the rooms is 2.85 m. 12. In this case the combined effects of the courtyard
The land around the main building was considered walls and the spherical trees are considered.
barren, with no trees, shrubs or flowers. 13. The pool of water was located just in the middle of
2. Insulation used on the outside surfaces of the the courtyard, and it was to be empty during the
exposed walls and the roof was 10 cm thick with heating months. The energy analysis of the pool
k ¼ 0:038 W=mK. included evaporation, solar and sky radiation, con-
3. The U-values of the windows are dependent on the vection, and conduction. The temperature of the soil
inside and outside temperatures. The double-glazed under the pool was determined and was incorporated
windows had a U-values of 0:84 W=m2 K at 3 am on with the energy analysis of the courtyard ground.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104 103

Table 3
Annual cooling and heating energy needs of the main building with various energy conservation measures and passive cooling features of the
courtyard

Energy Conservation Measures and Passive Cooling Features Cooling Heating

Energy Saving Energy Saving

(GJ/y) (%) (GJ/y) (%)

1 Main Building (MB) 60.32 — 75.95 —

2 MB with insulation of the exposed walls, roof and
building perimeter 51.92 13.9 34.15 55
3 MB with double-gazed windows 58.36 3.2 66.83 12
4 MB with 50% reduction on the size of cracks to reduce infiltration 53.47 11.4 67.94 10.5
5 MB with Persian Blinds to be used during sunny days in summer and winter nights 44.09 26.9 62.59 17.6
6 MB with curtains to be used during sunny summer days and winter nights 55.93 7.3 67.38 11.3
7a MB with insulation, double-glazed windows and Persian Blinds 31.72 47.4 17.59 76.8
7b MB with all conservation measures (of rows 2 to 6 above) 24.76 59 10.5 86.2
8 MB with ceiling fans in each room 40.31 33.2 75.45 0.6
9 MB with the consideration of shading of the courtyard walls 59.94 0.6 77.08 1.5
10 MB with the consideration of wind shading by courtyard walls 54.89 9 82.46 8.6
11 MB with 2 spherical trees with 5 m in diameter in the south side of the building 57.8 4.2 75.94 0.01
12 MB with the combined effects of items 9 and 11 above 57.44 4.8 77.18 1.6
13 MB with the pool of water in the yard 58.98 2.3 75.95 0
14 MB with the garden covered with grass, and shrubs and flowers 54.97 8.9 77.53 2.1
15 MB with the pool of water and the garden 54.42 9.8 77.67 2.3
16 MB surrounded by trees, grass, shrubs and flowers on all 4 sides 29.87 50.5 84.24 10.9

14. For the portion of the courtyard covered with a
lawn, shrubs and flowers, it was assumed that the
soil received diffuse solar radiation, had thermal
radiation exchange with the grass at the ambient air
temperature, and had heat transfer by convection
and evaporation.
15. In this case the combined effects of the pool of water
(item 13) and the garden (item 14) are considered.
16. This is an extreme case, assuming that the main
building was located in a garden and was sur-
rounded in all four sides with trees, grass, shrubs
and flowers. In this case it was assumed that from
May to October the trees were full of leaves, and
were shading the building walls and windows, and
the ground surrounding it. It was further assumed
that the ground surface received only diffuse
radiation, had radiation exchange with the tree
leaves at the ambient air temperature, and had
convection and evaporation exchange with the
surrounding air. It was further assumed that because
of the evaporation from the leaves, the ambient air
temperature was 5
C lower than its normal values ments as various courtyard features, and at the same
during the months of May through September, and
was 3
C lower during the months of April and
October. During the other months the ambient air
temperature had its normal values; trees had no
leaves and provided no shading for the building and
the ground. During these months, however, the
ground was covered with grass and was kept moist
at all times. (It should be added that the assumption
of lower air temperatures in the garden were based
on the field measurements made in several parks in
Tehran, considering various large trees and moist
ground under them. Air temperature and relative
humidity as wall the solar radiation were measured
under these trees).
6. Conclusions
Referring to Table 3 we can compare the savings in
cooling energy needs of the building resulted from the
use of courtyard with the savings associated with the
energy conservation measures incorporated in the design
of the building. We can draw the following conclusions:
1. The courtyard considered reduced the cooling energy
needs of building by a relatively small amount. It had
adverse effects on the heating energy needs of the
building, increasing the heating requirements slightly.
2. Energy conservation measures, such as insulation,
double-glazed windows, Persian Blinds and sealing
tapes, saved as much on the cooling energy require-
time reduced the heating energy needs of the building.
3. Under an extreme condition of the building to be
completely surrounded by trees, shrubs and flowers,
we had 50.5% savings on the cooling energy needs of
the building. In such a case the heating energy
requirements of the building increased by 10.9%. On
the other hand, with the use of insulation, double-
glazed windows and Persian Blinds one could have a
saving of 47.4% in cooling energy needs and another
saving of 76.8% in the heating. With the employment
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
104 H. Safarzadeh, M.N. Bahadori / Building and Environment 40 (2005) 89–104
of all energy conservation measures (indicated in
rows 2 to 6 in Table 3), one could have a saving of
59% in the cooling energy needs of the building and
86.2% in the heating.
4. The use of ceiling fans in each room, to operate
anytime the room air temperature went above 25
C 1986. p. 283–356.
and reached 28
C , resulted in a saving of 33.2% in [3] Mohsen MA. Solar radiation and courtyard house forms—I. A
the cooling energy requirements of the building. This
was higher than the savings associated with all the
passive cooling features associated with the courtyard
considered in this study.
5. With the present rate of urbanization and housing
developments, land costs are increasing and the
employment of courtyards is becoming very expen-
sive. One can employ wall and roof insulations,
double-glazed windows, Persian Blinds and sealing
tapes (to reduce infiltration) and obtain as much
savings on the cooling energy as the employment of
courtyard would result. These measures save on the
heating energy needs of the building as well. This is in
contrast with the employment of courtyards where
the heating energy requirements increased by them.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Fuel Consumption
Optimization Organization, Iranian Ministry of Petro-
leum, for supporting the Green Building Project.
References
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