Course Title:

Climate, Environment and

Architecture
Code : ARCH 130

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Instructor :
Arch. Mohammed Alrubayan
LECTURE: 5

Topics to be covered in this lecture

Basic Principles:

MEAN RADIANT TEMPERATURE •

HEAT FLOW •

HEAT CAPACITY •

HEAT SINK •

THERMAL RESISTANCE R-Value/ HEAT-FLOW COEFFICIENT U-Value •

INSULATING EFFECT OF MASS •

ALBEDO •

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• MEAN RADIANT TEMPERATURE: ‫متوسط درجة الحرارة المشعة‬

MRT is the weighted average radiant temperature of a point in

space, and it varies from point to point.

- The following two-dimensional version in plan or section is often used to calculate MRT:

‫زاوية تعرض سطح ما من النقطة التي يتم النظر فيها أو عامل الزاوية بين الشخص "النقطة" والسطح‬

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• MEAN RADIANT TEMPERATURE:

▪ To determine if a certain body will be a net gainer or loser of

radiant energy, we must consider both the temperature and
the exposure angle of all objects that are in view of the body in
question.

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• HEAT FLOW: ‫التدفق الحراري‬

Heat flow is the movement of heat (energy) from the interior

point or the Earth to the surface.

o In the I–P system, heat flow is

measured in Btu per hour (Btu/h).
o In the SI system, heat flow is
described by watts (W), which are
equal to joules per second (J/s).

(see again Table 3.3).

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• HEAT SINK: ‫مشتت للحرارة‬

Often the massive structure of a building acts as

a heat sink. Many massive buildings feel
comfortably cool on hot summer days, as in
Figure 3.14.

During the night, these buildings give up their

heat by convection -‫الحمل الحراري‬- to the cool
night air, and by radiation -‫ –االشعاع‬to the cold
sky—thus recharging their heat-sink capability
for the next day.

However, in very humid regions the high night

time temperatures prevent effective recharging
of the heat sink.

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• HEAT CAPACITY :

• The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of a

material 1°F (1°C) is called the heat capacity of that
material.

• In architecture we are usually more interested in the heat

capacity per volume than in the heat capacity per weight,
which is more commonly known as specific heat.

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• THERMAL RESISTANCE R-value : ‫المقاومة الحرارية‬

• Thermal resistance (R-Value ) is the ability of a material to

prevent the passage of heat.

• It is the thickness of the material (in metres) divided by its

conductivity factor –‫معامل الموصلية‬.

• By knowing the resistance of a material, we can predict how much

heat will flow through it and can compare materials with each other.

• R-Value is measured in m2-°C/W.

Ft2= square foot or feet

The higher the R-value, the

more efficient the insulation. 8
• HEAT-FLOW COEFFICIENT U-Value: ‫معامل التدفق الحراري‬

• Much of the technical literature describes the thermal

characteristics of wall or roof systems in terms of the heat-flow
coefficient U-value rather than the total thermal resistance R-
value.
• Definition: A Heat-Flow Coefficient (U-value) is a measure of
heat loss in a building element such as a wall, floor or roof.

• The higher the U-value the worse the thermal performance of the
building envelope.
• It is measured in W/m2K

The lower the U-value, the

more efficient the insulation.
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11
• INSULATING EFFECT OF MASS:

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Building Heat Gain and Losses

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• SOLAR REFLECTIVITY (ALBEDO): ‫انعكاس الطاقة الشمسية‬

• The heat gain through a white roof will be

about 50 percent of that of a black roof.
• The measure of a surface’s reflectivity of
solar radiation is called albedo.

‫يُطلق على مقياس انعكاس اإلشعاع الشمسي على سطح ما‬

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 • Thermal Insulation Standards (R-Value and
U-Value): Requirements From Saudi
Building Code.

• General U-value requirement based on Zone 1:

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Zone 1: The central regions of Saudi Arabia, Hot-Harsh climate.
 • Thermal Insulation Standards (R-Value and
U-Value): Requirements From Saudi
Building Code.

• Wall and Roof U-value requirement based on all Zone :

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Zone 1: The central regions of Saudi Arabia, Hot-Harsh climate.