Development of a Mosque Design for a Hot, Dry Climate Based on a Holistic Bioclimatic Vision

• Main Authors: Atef Ahriz, Abdelhakim Mesloub, Khaled Elkhayat, Mohammed A Alghaseb, Mohamed Hassan Abdelhafez, Aritra Ghosh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-06-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: mosque design; hot and dry climate; thermal comfort; thermal discomfort; process-based simulation
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6254

Over 50% of the total energy consumed by buildings in a hot and dry climate goes toward the cooling regime during the harsh months. Non-residential buildings, especially houses of worship, need a tremendous amount of energy to create a comfortable environment for worshipers. Today, mosques are regarded as energy-hungry buildings, whereas in the past, they were designed according to sustainable vernacular architecture. This study was aimed at improving the energy performance of mosques in a hot and dry climate using bioclimatic principles and architectural elements. To achieve this aim, a process-based simulation approach was applied together with a generate and test technique on 86 scenarios based on 10 architectural elements, with various arithmetic transition rates organized in 9 successive steps. Starting from a simplified hypothetical model, the final model of the mosque design was arrived at based on a holistic bioclimatic vision using 10 architectural elements. The findings of this research were limited to a specific mosque size in a hot and dry climate, but the proposed holistic bioclimatic concept can be developed to take into account all mosque models in several harsh environments.