Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Potential of Green Engineering Solutions Toward Sustainable Residential Buildings: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alshabanat, Abdullah Nasser S; Omer, SiddigEfficient green buildings can potentially boost economic growth, enhance social development, and promote environmental sustainability. One of the contemporary challenges in building design is minimising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use while delivering thermal comfort. A building environment that is unhealthy and delivers low levels of comfort in an effort to diminish emissions can be viewed as a failed project, similar to how a building with excessively high emissions while providing a quality thermal environment is considered an ethical failure. The building sector is highly significant in Saudi Arabia because of its impact on the development of other economic sectors and the complex national economy. Additionally, almost half of the total national electricity consumption in Saudi Arabia can be attributed to residential buildings. Therefore, the building sector plays a pivotal role in addressing energy and sustainability issues. One of the current megaprojects of Saudi Arabian Vision 2030 is the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) ROSHN housing project, which covers an area of 150 million square metres across nine major cities. The first stage involves the SEDRA district in Riyadh, which will eventually have over 30,000 residential units across an area of 20 million square metres. Leveraging the advantages of green engineering solutions to improve the energy consumption and thermal comfort performance of such megaprojects without impacting their architectural values should be a national goal. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate the potential of green engineering solutions (traditional passive architectural design, energy efficiency measures, and low-carbon technology) in Saudi residential buildings to offer a balanced approach between cooling energy consumption and occupants' thermal comfort within the context of the sustainability concept. An understanding of the challenges and possibilities associated with integrating green engineering solutions into the design of Saudi residential buildings was essential to this study. Therefore, engaging with key stakeholders who could have provided valuable insights would have been beneficial. Furthermore, to maximise the outcomes, modelling and simulation of a case study involving a residential building from the SEDRA project were undertaken to achieve the aim and objectives of the current research. In light of these factors, the researcher selected a case study analysis and survey research methodology to represent a mixed-methods approach. The case study methodology consists of computer-based modelling and simulations that constitute the quantitative element, while the expert survey represents the qualitative dimension of mixed-methods research. Furthermore, to ensure that the research project generates new, valid, and reliable information, intense engagement with the theory surrounding research methodologies must be combined with a rigorous consideration of the unique requirements of the research subject. Accordingly, the findings of the literature review and the former and later methods were merged to gain comprehensive insight. As a result, and after the case study was evaluated, it was evident that the implementation of the proposed green engineering solutions, taking into account the sustainability context for this study, can scientifically enhance cooling energy performance and the thermal comfort levels of the base case building. For instance, moderate implementation, characterised by a balanced application of passive strategies aligning with existing building codes, resulted in mild reductions of up to 16% in cooling energy and 13% in discomfort hours. In contrast, high-level implementation involving advanced energy efficiency measures and full code adherence achieved notable reductions of up to 28% in cooling energy and 35% in discomfort hours. However, the integrated approach, which combines the three strategies of traditional passive design, energy efficiency measures, and renewable energy, produced the most significant results, with potential reductions of up to 49% in cooling energy load and 73% in discomfort hours.19 0Item Restricted Enhancing Indoor Air Quality and Minimizing Airborne Virus Dispersion Under Various Ventilation Strategies While Maintaining Thermal Comfort(CARDIFF UNIVERSITY, 2025) ALQARNI, ZAHI ALI SAEED; Yacine, RezguiIndoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort are critical factors that influence occupant health, productivity, and general well-being in office environments. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of effective ventilation strategies in mitigating the transmission of airborne viruses. This research investigates the performance of three ventilation strategies: indoor recirculation systems (4-way ceiling cassette air conditioners), natural ventilation, and mixed mode ventilation (AC + natural ventilation) in maintaining optimal IAQ, thermal comfort, and infection control in an open-plan office setting. Using a combination of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and real-world environmental monitoring, this study evaluates airflow patterns, pollutant dispersion, and thermal regulation under different ventilation conditions. This thesis explicitly demonstrates that IAQ, thermal comfort, and airborne virus transmission are deeply interconnected. Poor air quality not only impairs comfort and productivity but also prolongs aerosol suspension time, elevating infection risk. As such, ventilation strategies must be designed to address these three aspects holistically. The findings reveal that the air conditioning (AC) system, while providing controlled air distribution, often leads to stagnation zones that reduce air mixing efficiency and increase pollutant accumulation. Natural ventilation, though beneficial under favourable conditions, exhibits inconsistent performance due to external weather variations, leading to excessive humidity fluctuations and temperature instability. In contrast, mixed mode ventilation emerges as the most effective strategy, offering improved airflow uniformity, improved pollutant dilution, and greater adaptability to seasonal changes. The results demonstrate that a well-optimised hybrid system, which strategically combines an AC system and natural ventilation, can mitigate the limitations of standalone approaches by balancing fresh air intake, controlled temperature regulation, and efficient humidity management. This research contributes to a novel integrated methodological framework that bridges CFD simulations with IoT-based environmental monitoring, ensuring robust validation of ventilation performance under real-world conditions. The findings have significant implications for the optimisation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and public health policies, particularly in the post-pandemic era, where IAQ is a major concern. By addressing critical knowledge gaps in ventilation performance, this thesis provides practical recommendations for facility managers, architects, and policy makers to develop more resilient and health-conscious indoor environments.15 0Item Unknown Investigating Thermal Comfort in Vernacular and Contemporary Houses in Al-Qassim's Hot-Arid Climate(Cardiff University, 2023-10-31) Alghafis, Mohammed Fahad; Sibley, MagdaContemporary residential buildings in the hot-arid climate of Saudi Arabia with no or minimum insulation heavily rely on mechanical cooling, resulting in high electricity consumption. In the context of climate emergency, energy consumption based on fossil fuels is a high contributing factor. This research aims to investigate residents’ behavioural and cultural aspects of thermal comfort perceptions and adaptation and their relationship to objective measurements of air temperatures in vernacular and contemporary single-family houses in Al-Qassim, Saudi Arabia. The research does this by recording and evaluating the temperature measurements outside and inside eight vernacular and ten contemporary case study houses and thermal comfort perceptions of residents in the summer hot season of 2020 during a period of two consecutive weeks. Contemporary houses were selected from four neighbourhoods in Buraydah, while vernacular houses were chosen based on their accessibility, current condition and the availability of previous occupants for interviews. Open-ended structured interviews were conducted with eight elderly individuals to record their oral memories about living in the case study vernacular houses, while one resident from each of the 10 selected contemporary houses was interviewed in depth about their behaviour in their living room regarding maintaining comfortable temperatures. In addition, male and female occupants of contemporary houses were asked to rate their thermal comfort levels in their air conditioned living room twice a day. A typical house was chosen for a simulation model based on electricity bills and construction details. Three insulation scenarios in walls, roofs, or both were tested according to the Saudi Building Code. A comparative simulation was conducted to compare the unoccupied temperatures of vernacular houses with simulated conditions in contemporary ones, both under free-running and air-conditioned conditions. The research reveals that vernacular houses maintain warmer temperatures at night compared to outdoors, while contemporary houses are warmer during the daytime. Residents employ adaptive strategies in vernacular houses, such as sleeping on roofs. In contrast, residents in contemporary houses keep windows shut and rely on air-conditioning despite cooler nighttime temperatures. In the comparative simulation, vernacular house with and without air-conditioning, performed better than contemporary ones due to its lower U-value. The results of this study provide a new understanding of behavioural and cultural aspects from the past and the present related to maintaining thermal comfort, leading to a set of recommendations. The findings have broader applicability to similar climates and cultural contexts, including other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.74 0Item Unknown Impact of Gradual Step Changes in Temperature on Thermal Comfort in Hot Climates(The Queensland University of Technology, 2024-06-05) Barnawi, Khader; Nepal, Madhav; Drogemuller, Robin; Volz, KirstyThermal comfort affects the interaction that building occupants have with the environment, both inside and outside the building. It is a key determining factor of energy usage in the building. Buildings can become more energy efficient if appropriate consideration is given to leverage the occupants’ thermal comfort tolerance. This research examined the impact of the exposure to temperature graduation by step changes when people make their way from extremely hot outdoor temperatures to the air-conditioned interior spaces of a building. It assessed the occupants’ perceptions of thermal comfort and examined possible energy savings, by adjusting the thermostat setpoint in the transitional and steady occupancy spaces within the building. The study was conducted with groups of students and staff members in two university campuses in Saudi Arabia: King Abdulaziz University (KAU), and Umm Al-Qura University (UQU). Overall, this PhD research enriches the existing body of knowledge by providing detailed insights into thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and building design considerations in hot climates, particularly in the context of buildings in the education sector of Saudi Arabia. The research employed a case study comparative analysis approach. The study used survey questionnaires to collect quantitative and qualitative thermal comfort perception data from the building occupants. The data from nearby weather stations combined with sensors installed in the building were used to measure the environment of the spaces that the subjects transitioned through, on the way to their destination (i.e., classrooms). Firstly, data was collected under the existing air-conditioning (AC) operation settings in the buildings. This was the base-case scenario. Thermostat adjustments were then introduced to the air conditioning systems to create a step change in temperature from the exterior spaces to the transitional spaces with a difference of 3°C in temperature to the destination spaces (i.e., classrooms). Finally, the temperature was increased by an additional 1°C in both the transitional spaces and destination spaces. The results of the study have shown that a gradual change in temperature reflects positively on building occupants’ comfort sensation in both the transitional and destination spaces. The study participants didn’t experience any increase in discomfort in the transitional spaces. Moreover, they reported feeling more comfortable in the destination spaces. Thermal comfort perception of the occupants was assessed in all three scenarios. A noticeable improvement in the occupants’ thermal comfort was observed in the destination spaces. Basic energy use estimation analysis results indicated that the changes applied to the AC system within the temperature ranges acceptable to the participants would lead to a significant reduction of energy use by the AC system, mainly due to reducing operational loads from the transitional spaces. This research has provided valuable insights on the impact of temperature step change on occupants’ thermal comfort in the context of Saudi Arabia, which generally has a desert climate, with a long and hot summer, a situation very common to the Middle East region. The findings of this study have important implications for researchers, building designers, building managers, owners, and occupants. While the two case study buildings were the existing buildings within the university campuses, with no opportunity to modify the layout of spaces or the physical fabric, some extrapolations from the data can be made to provide guidance to the design of future similar facilities. In particular, building occupants would benefit directly from these research outcomes as they would experience a more comfortable temperature range in the building. Building owners would benefit due to reduction in energy use/cost. The difficulty of reaching female participants and the impact of Covid-19 on the experiment were some of the limitations that impacted this research. This however has opened up more opportunities for future research, such as including female occupants in studies, which could provide valuable insights into how gender influences thermal comfort preferences and responses. Future research could also focus on optimising building design and operation strategies to accommodate new restrictions and enhance HVAC systems' efficiency in sparsely occupied institutional buildings.49 0