The Effect of Materials Type and Form of the Roof on the Thermal Efficiency of Buildings

Today, the use of new materials for temperature control and balance is more emphasized due to the high costs of heating and cooling by fossil fuels, various environmental problems caused by these fuels and the application of renewable energies in buildings. Thus, the methods of reducing energy consumption or its storage are necessary. The amount of this consumed energy should be measured prior to taking any action. One way to calculate this amount is the use of energy consumption simulation programs and field temperature data measurement devices. In This study, using Energy Plus and thermometer and hygrometer devices, the energy consumption is calculated for three residential buildings located at, Oil Company corporate houses in Dogonbadan that due to the geographical classification of these buildings in Dogonbadan, they are categorized as the buildings with low energy consumption. No changes have been made in these buildings so far in terms of the materials used on the walls, flooring and also the type of their ceilings. The results show that in most of these buildings some measures were taken to reduce the interior heat loss of the building, before their construction. Given the objectives of the study, two main elements of the building were studied i.e. the type of materials used and the shape and form of the roof. The results of these studies showed that the building with wooden materials and sloping roof with a temperature of 12.6 œ C, brick building with a flat roof with a temperature of 15.4 œ C and brick building with a sloping roof with a temperature of 16.3 œ have the best temperature quality, respectively. This indicates the importance of choosing the type of materials and the construction method of the ceiling in this geographical region that were studied in this research.

Keywords:

Building materials , Roof form , Energy Plus , Data-logger