Theoretical and experimental investigation of the thermal performance of a pre-fabricated concrete flat in 15- may city

Abstract EN

This study deals with the thermal performance of a pre-fabricated concrete flat in 15-May City, south Helwan, Cairo, Egypt (290 25` N latitude and 310 20` E longitude).

It is about 80 m above sea level.

The climate of this city is characterized by ; aridity, high summer daytime temperature, large diurnal temperature variation, low relative humidity and high solar radiation in individual.

In such conditions, an individual loses his ability to work and to contribute effectively to the development plan due to the high thermal stress affecting him.

This study deals with a comparison between the theoretical and experimental analysis of the thermal performance of a pre-fabricated concrete flat under the effect of external climatic conditions in 15-May City, Cairo, Egypt.

The measurements were taken for two flats ; one in the third floor (unexposed roof) and the second was in the fifth floor (exposed roof).

Measurements included external environmental climatic conditions (outdoor air temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and solar intensity ) and internal environmental climatic conditions (indoor air temperature, wind speed, and wall surface temperatures).The admittance procedure is a technique for estimating cooling / heating load and temperature changes under cyclic conditions by using the thermal characteristics (Y-value, λ, ϕ, Sf) of the building structure.

It dependent on determining the daily means value and the swing about the mean.

The admittance method was used and a computer program was developed to predict the heating and cooling load as well as the indoor air temperature.

The results show that a reasonable agreement between the theoretical and experimental indoor air temperature of the flat is achieved.

Also shading devices, insulating materials, and suitable orientation help to achieve a harmony between the building and environment.