Effect of Atrium on Thermal Comfort

Regarding sustainable development and energy consciousness in architectural area, a primary concern of this research is to achieve a thermal comfort environment in atria which lie in a transition between composite and hot-humid climates, hence to improve thermally the internal built environment and promote optimum use of passive atrium performance. The present thesis is based on a quantitative approach and has focused on the thermal performance of an educational atrium building. Coloured building, which is the field study, is a part of the architecture department at Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, North Cyprus. Overheating is the main problem of its existing atrium that has a profound impact on the thermal and energy performance of the building. To support the theoretical framework and discover the gap, brief reviews of similar recent researches done so far are included. In combination with the data gathered, observation, measurements on site, photography, and maps are also collected; data used was validated to create dynamic thermal modelling of the existing atrium building via TAS software so to estimate the comfort zone in terms of thermal conditions. The comparison of Coloured building simulations confirmed that indoor thermal comfort is directly affected by external temperature, internal air circulation, solar radiation, relative humidity, and the height of the atrium building. Consequently, the most suitable atrium form in a hot humid climate, which can provide comfort zone for its occupants, would be the one with a three to five meter height for atrium tower, having proper outlets on the highest part of the atrium tower, and covering atrium roof by solid material instead of transparent ones such as glass. Keywords: Atrium, Thermal Comfort, Building Problem in Hot Humid Climate, TAS Software, Energy Saving