Effect of Galleries on the Thermal Performance of Buildings in the Gaza Strip

Abstract

This study examines the effect of galleries design in a symmetrical street canyons on the thermal performance of buildings located in the Mediterranean climate of the Gaza Strip. It was carried out using two computer simulation tools, namely ECOTECT and IDA ICE. The gallery design parameters and street orientation were investigated to find out the extent to which they affect the external and internal thermal comfort. The study concluded that the thermal stress can affectively be mitigated if galleries are appropriately configured with relation to the solar orientation. The galleries on (E-W) oriented street are more protected from the sun than that on (N-S) oriented streets. About 39.4% of reduction in the incident solar radiation falling on (EW) street occurs with increasing the gallery width to street width ratio (w/W) from 0.2 to 1.4. And about 22.8% of reduction occurs with increasing the gallery height to building height ratio (h/H) from 0.2 to 0.9. On the other hand, higher galleries effectively reduce the total requirement in the covered spaces, especially the upper floors. Therefore, more attention must be paid to the gallery dimensions in order to reduce energy consumption of buildings.