Optimizing vernacular building design towards net-zero energy

Abstract

Construction industries may play a critical role in dominant energy usage as pressure mounts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency investments can be a profitable way to reduce carbon emissions. Solar buildings with Net-Zero Energy are emerging as a promising way for reducing buildings' environmental impact. In Lebanon, there is a transition from vernacular to modern architecture in the early twentieth century. It is tightly related to the implementation of concrete in construction and the formation of the national cement industry, which paved the way for the creation of new building types. Not to mention the second industrial revolution, which had a significant impact on energy consumption. Yet the transition from vernacular to modern architecture created a missing link in architectural development. The vernacular type depended on several strategies for passive design, whereas modern architecture lost many of these characteristics. The focus is to study the Vernacular Architecture that will be used to investigate the early solutions and passive strategies. These strategies will be developed and implemented to improve energy efficiency while also incorporating active strategies, which will be analyzed in the Net-Zero Energy techniques and implemented in the optimization and results. Existing buildings will be addressed focusing on the residential typology of the coastal zone which is the most urbanized area that has undergone several changes and still has both the vernacular and modern identities. This research intends to fill the missing link of architectural development by trying to reach the optimal combination between passive and active techniques. The applicability and value proposition of Net Zero Energy, on the existing residential typology of the coastal region in Lebanon, will be assessed through different methods and simulations.