Optimisation of Thermal Comfort of Building in a Hot and Dry Tropical Climate: A Comparative Approach between Compressed Earth/Concrete Block Envelopes

Compressed earth blocks (CEB) are an alternative to cement blocks in the construction of wall masonry. However, the optimal architectural construction methods for adequate thermal comfort for occupants in hot and arid environments are not mastered. This article evaluates the influence of architectural and constructive modes of buildings made of CEB walls and concrete block walls, to optimize and compare their thermal comfort in the hot and dry tropical climate of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Two identical pilot buildings whose envelopes are made of CEB and concrete blocks were monitored for this study. The thermal models of the pilot buildings were implemented in the SketchUp software using an extension of EnergyPlus. The models were empirically validated after calibration against measured thermal data from the buildings. The models were used to do a parametric analysis for optimization of the thermal performances by simulating plaster coatings on the exterior of walls, airtight openings and natural ventilation depending on external weather conditions. The results show that the CEB building displays 7016 hours of discomfort, equivalent to 80.1% of the time, and the concrete building displays 6948 hours of discomfort, equivalent to 79.3% of the time. The optimization by modifications reduced the discomfort to 2918 and 3125 hours respectively;i.e. equivalent to only 33.3% for the CEB building and 35.7% for the concrete building. More study should evaluate thermal optimizations in buildings in real time of usage such as residential buildings commonly used by the local middle class. The use of CEB as a construction material and passive means of improving thermal comfort is a suitable ecological and economical option to replace cementitious material.

Exploring building's envelope thermal behavior of the neo-vernacular residential architecture in a hot and dry climate region of Algeria

It is well known that the passive strategies applying in traditional buildings respond satisfactory to climatic requirements and succeed to provide maximum indoor comfort with minimum energy consumption.From this point of view,it is interesting to quantitatively assess the effectiveness of the vernacular strategies to improve the environmental performance of the building's envelope under desert climate conditions.The research tries to address this issue and was undertaken in southern Algeria where a very hot and arid climate prevails.The effect of some selected passive cooling strategies on enhancing the building's envelope climate performance was examined.These strategies are inspired from the local vernacular architecture,and they are expected to provide satisfactory indoor thermal comfort for users and to reduce the energy cooling demand from residential buildings.Applying field and computational investigations,two existing residential buildings were tested:a typical residential unit and a contemporary vernacular(neo-vernacular)building.In the latter,climate responsive strategies inspired from vernacular architecture were applied.A comparison based on site measurements was carried out on the two selected buildings which differ from their envelope design properties and components.

Interdecadal fluctuation of dry and wet climate boundaries in China in the past 50 years

Based on the mean yearly precipitation and the total yearly evaporation data of 295 meteorological stations in China in 1951-1999, the aridity index is calculated in this paper. According to the aridity index, the climatic regions in China are classified into three types, namely, arid region, semi-arid region and humid region. Dry and wet climate boundaries in China fluctuate markedly and differentiate greatly in each region in the past 50 years. The fluctuation amplitudes are 20-400 km in Northeast China, 40-400 km in North China, 30-350 km in the eastern part of Northwest China and 40-370 km in Southwest China. Before the 1980s (including 1980), the climate tended to be dry in Northeast China and North China, to be wet in the eastern part of Northwest China and very wet in Southwest China. Since the 1990s there have been dry signs in Southwest China, the eastern part of Northwest China and North China. The climate becomes wetter in Northeast China. Semi-arid region is the transitional zone between humid and arid regions, the monsoon edge belt in China, and the susceptible region of environmental evolution. At the end of the 1960s dry and wet climate in China witnessed abrupt changes, changing wetness into dryness. Dry and wet climate boundaries show the fluctuation characteristics of the whole shifts and the opposite fluctuations of eastward, westward, southward and northward directions. The fluctuations of climatic boundaries and the dry and wet variations of climate have distinctive interdecadal features.

The Extremely Hot and Dry Climatic Events and Potash Enrichment in Salt Lakes of the Jiangling Depression, Jianghan Basin

Objective A total of 820 million tons of potash reserves are predicted to exist in the Palaeocene-Eocene of the Jianghan Basin. However, the basin history is still unclear concerning the potash enriching conditions and mechanism. The Well SKDI is the first exploration well drilled in the Paleogene of Jianghan Basin with continuous coring, which was implemented in the south-central Jiangling Basin in 2013. It is essential to study the Palaeocene-Eocene paleoclimate, to further constrain the extreme draught events and the potash forming conditions.

Characteristics of Dry and Wet Climate in Shandong Province Based on Standardized Precipitation Index

Based on the monthly precipitation data of 116 meteorological stations in Shandong Province during 1970-2021,standardized precipitation index(SPI)was calculated,and the methods of linear fitting,mutation test and Morlet wavelet analysis were used to analyze the change trend and temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of SPI index in the past 52 years.The results show that there were more normal years in Shandong Province,and the frequency reached 38.46%.There was severe drought in the 1980s and more wet years after 2003.SPI index showed an upward trend in spring,summer and winter but a weak arid trend in autumn.In addition,intense dry weather was more frequent in summer.Spatially,the climate was normal or humid in most areas of Shandong Province.The regions with more wet years were located in the central and northeast Shandong and the peninsula,while the climate was normal in the southwest and north of Shandong.The areas with more dry years were mainly located in the northwest of Shandong Province.There was mainly local and global drought in Shandong Province,and the arid area showed a decreasing trend.In the past 52 years,Shandong Province experienced quasi-4 times of alternation between dry and wet climate.The long period of 21 a was the first main period,and the climate would be still wet in Shandong Province in the future.In terms of mutation,the climate in Shandong Province became humid after 2003,and 2003 was the mutation point.After the abrupt change,the climate changed from gradually drying to wetting.

Aeolian activity in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert of China during the last 900 years

The mineral dust emitted from Central Asia has a significant influence on the global climate system.However,the history and mechanisms of aeolian activity in Central Asia remain unclear,due to the lack of well-dated records of aeolian activity and the intense wind erosion in some of the dust source areas(e.g.,deserts).Here,we present the records of aeolian activity from a sedimentary sequence in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert of China using grain size analysis and optically stimulated luminescence(OSL)dating,based on field sampling in 2019.Specifically,we used eight OSL dates to construct chronological frameworks and applied the end-member(EM)analysis for the grain size data to extract the information of aeolian activity in the southern Gurbantunggut Desert during the last 900 a.The results show that the grain size dataset can be subdivided into three EMs(EM1,EM2,and EM3).The primary modal sizes of these EMs(EM1,EM2,and EM3)are 126.00,178.00,and 283.00μm,respectively.EM1 represents a mixture of the suspension components and saltation dust,while EM2 and EM3 show saltation dust transported over a shorter distance via strengthened near-surface winds,which can be used to trace aeolian activity.Combined with the OSL chronology,our results demonstrate that during the last 900 a,more intensive and frequent aeolian activity occurred during 450-100 a BP(Before Present)(i.e.,the Little Ice Age(LIA)),which was reflected by a higher proportion of the coarse-grained components(EM2+EM3).Aeolian activity decreased during 900-450 a BP(i.e.,the Medieval Warm Period(MWP))and 100 a BP-present(i.e.,the Current Warm Period(CWP)).Intensified aeolian activity was associated with the strengthening of the Siberian High and cooling events at high northern latitudes.We propose that the Siberian High,under the influence of temperature changes at high northern latitudes,controlled the frequency and intensity of aeolian activity in Central Asia.Cooling at high northern latitudes would have significantly enhanced the Siberian High,causing its position to shift southward.Subsequently,the incursion of cold air masses from high northern latitudes resulted in stronger wind regimes and increased dust emissions from the southern Gurbantunggut Desert.It is possible that aeolian activity may be weakened in Central Asia under future global warming scenarios,but the impact of human activities on this region must also be considered.

THE FLUCTUATIONS OF DRY AND WET CLIMATE BOUNDARY AND ITS CAUSAL ANALYSES IN CHINA

Based on yearly precipitation and Φ20 evaporation pan data during 1951 to 1999 of 295 stations,the aridity index is calculated in this paper.According to the aridity index,the climatic regions in China are divided into three types:the arid zone,the semi-arid zone and the humid zone. Isoline 0.20 is the boundary between arid and semi-arid zones.Isoline 0.50 is the boundary between semi-arid and humid zones.The fluctuations of dry and wet climate boundaries are very substantial,have greatly regional difference,and have the features of the whole shifting along the same direction and of the opposite moving along the contrary direction over the past 50 years.The semi-arid zone is a transitional zone between humid and arid zones,a border belt of monsoon,and a susceptible zone of environmental evolution in China. In the period of the late 1960s to the early 1970s,remarkable change had occurred for dry and wet climate in China.It manifests significantly that climate is from wetter into drought in most regions of northern China.Moreover,drought has an increasing trend.The fluctuations of climatic boundaries and the dry and wet variations in climate have substantial inter-decadal features. The main factors affecting the dry and wet climate boundary fluctuations and the dry and wet variations of climate in China are East Asian summer monsoon,Indian Monsoon,plateau monsoon in the Tibetan Plateau,westerly circulation,and West Pacific subtropical high.The different types of circulations and the strong and weak combinations of these circulations result in the regional differences of dry and wet climate changes in China.Inter-decadal variations of the dry and wet climate boundary fluctuations and of the arid and humid climate result from the inter-decadal changes of East Asian summer monsoon,Indian Monsoon,plateau monsoon,westerly circulation, and West Pacific subtropical high.The anomalous general atmospheric circulation in the Northern Hemisphere during the late 1960s to the early 1970s is the causes of arid and humid climate remarkable change in China.