Fatemeh Doostidovlatabad - Department of Architecture, Islamic Azad University of Abarkouh, Abarkouh, Iran;
Hamid Eskandari - Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran;

In this paper, the effect of a conventional exterior shading element on energy consumption in four different climatic regions and for different orientations, has been investigated. Most of the Prior researches, usually focused on one shading type, such as overhang, side fan, Venetian blinds shadings, self-adaptive shadings etc. and its impact on reducing building energy consumption. As respects in this study, Iwan as a traditional shading system that covers both the wall and the building’s openings, moreover, as a semi-space in Islamic architecture with various forms, dimensions and directions have been analyzed. In this respect, first, the thermal loads of a building without shading device are computed using the EnergyPlus software. Then, four different forms of shading device are added to the above-mentioned structure along the four principal orientations, moreover, the effect of them on the reduction of thermal loads is analyzed for four different climates. Therefore, in this paper, the performance of conventional exterior shading in terms of cooling and heating improvements and its effect on the comfort and convenience of building residents are analyzed. Using a shading with the right depth and at proper orientation could be very effective in reducing the energy consumption of buildings. So, the optimal depth and geometrical form of shading, as well as its best geographical direction that can improve the energy performance, are explored in this research. The results show that the best position for using a shading device is the south direction and the use of it in temperate & humid, hot & humid, cold & mountainous and hot & dry climates could reduce the energy consumption in buildings by 32%, 26%, 14% and 29%, respectively.

thermal performance; conventional Shading Device; EnergyPlus; Energy Consumption