7.2.6 Daylight and lighting views

night purge ventilation strategy and new techniques of sunscreen which allow air movement [70, 75]. High thermal mass has been achieved traditionally by thick walls that are made of heavy materials such as stone, brick, adobe, and mud. To achieve this with the glazing wall, it has been modified to be double-tinted glazing. A U-value of 1.0 W/m2 K has been used for the external facades. A canopy was added to the southern facade in the form of glazed sunscreen. Shading devices have been designed for the west facade to avoid the very hot solar rays of the afternoon. Firstly, a plan of blocking the solar rays of the summer season from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm was achieved by 2.4 m depth shading device, which would not be accepted by the architectural consultant and the city council regulations. Therefore, the time range has been minimized to be between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm and combined between the vertical and horizontal shading devices to minimize the depth of the devices to be 1.0 m (Figure 8). The same shading devices have been applied to the

It also recommended to shade part of the roof, particularly the service area, with a pergola that can used for the photovoltaic cells to generate green power

Proposed vertical/horizontal shading devices on the west/east facades (done by the author after Autodesk

east facade for esthetic reasons.

Sustainability Assessment at the 21st Century

7.2.5 Shaded roof

(Figure 9).

Figure 8.

Ecotect).

Figure 9.

116

Shading part of the roof (done by the author after Autodesk Ecotect).

To provide the building occupants with a connection to the outdoors, through the introduction of daylight and views into the regularly occupied areas of the building (Figure 10), it has been recommended to achieve a direct line of sight to the outdoor environment via vision glazing between 30 inches (75 cm) and 90 inches (225 cm) (Figure 11) above the finish floor for building occupants in 90% of all regularly occupied areas [73]. The floor area of the typical floor plan has been simulated using Autodesk Ecotect, and the daylight has been calculated on a height of 30 in (75 cm) above the floor. An interval of 5 foot (150 cm) has been employed in the analysis grid in the two directions X and Y. The first results did not satisfy the credit condition with the windows at sill height of 90 cm. Therefore, the height of the sill height was changed to be 30 in (75 cm).

By calculating the nodes of more than 25 fc (269.1 lux), the calculation showed that 472 out of 568 nodes are more than 25 fc and less than 500 fc. The percentage of area under the acceptable condition of the credit = 472/568 = 83.09% which is more than the required level by LEED (83.09% > 75%) (Figure 12).

#### 7.3 Simulation results analysis

Using Autodesk Ecotect, the base case and the modified case have been modeled and simulated. The thermal performance of the third floor has been utilized for the

#### Figure 10.

Regularly occupied spaces to gross floor area (third floor) (done by the author).

Figure 11. Direct lines of sight to the exterior (done by the author).

comparison purpose. The same specifications of the zone in terms of air velocity, number of occupants, latent heat, operation hours, occupant activity and cloth, etc. were given for the two case scenarios. The passive heat gain breakdown of the building has been calculated for both the base case of the GREENEDGE building

and the after modifications. Figures 13 and 14 and show that the passive heat gain breakdown for the proposed case after modification was almost half the passive

Green Building Rating Systems as Sustainability Assessment Tools: Case Study Analysis

Although the GREENEDGE building is a mechanical-ventilated building (active

required energy for cooling and heating loads during the different seasons. The total hours of the years during energy consumption has been reduced by 12% after energy modeling analysis. The design recommendations could be summarized as

1.Maximizing the amount of vegetation inside and outside buildings and using

2.Having a northern courtyard with link between the courtyard and the external

3. Shading part of the roof, particularly the service area, with a pergola that can be used for the photovoltaic cells to generate green power with the solar

4.Placing vertical and horizontal shading devices on the west/east facades to

6.Heavy construction for strong thermal inertia for walls and roofs: time lag more than 8 hours. To achieve this with the glazing wall, a doubled glazing with a U-value of 1.0 W/m2 K has been used at the south and west facades.

7.A canopy has been added to the south facade in the form of Mashrabia,

The GREENEDGE building imitating the LEED goal for a golden certificate is packed with good design potentials which can lead for such project to be one of the first office buildings in Egypt to be certified with a Golden certification using the newly announced LEED for Core and Shell. It is worth mentioning here that the

The author wishes to thank GREENEDGE owner, management bodies, and the

5.Windows has been modified to include two parts (lower and upper parts) that can give the occupants the controllability of opening the upper or the lower parts according to the weather condition. Those of the north direction must be the same in height with the human being. Opposite ones must be in a higher

ventilation), passive strategies and measures were followed to minimize the

drip irrigation system to minimize the water consumption.

block the solar radiation during the noontime of the day.

position to enable the required cross-ventilation.

building has been achieved a Preliminary Platinum Certificate.

shading devices, or glazed screen.

design teams for their cooperation and efforts.

Acknowledgments

119

heat gain breakdown of the base case.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87135

environment (the Takhtabush).

reflective index (SRI) not more than 29.

8. Conclusion

follows:

Figure 12.

Daylight levels at the third floor of the building on the 21st of September for all the occupied spaces (after Autodesk Ecotect).

Figure 13. Passive heat gain breakdown of the base case (done by the author using Autodesk Ecotect).

Figure 14. Passive heat gain breakdown of the proposed case (done by the author using Autodesk Ecotect).

and the after modifications. Figures 13 and 14 and show that the passive heat gain breakdown for the proposed case after modification was almost half the passive heat gain breakdown of the base case.
