Optimizing the cooling energy consumption by the passive traditional façade strategies in hot dry climate

The building façade becomes an integral part of the concept for adaptation of the building to the climate conditions; it should be able to respond and adapt its properties and components with the immediate environment. In the hot and dry climate in Algeria, the contemporary building design, materials, and techniques applied do not properly address the local climate conditions and the final energy consumption. Contrary to this, in traditional building practice, the local materials and passive strategies are used, which responded to the environmental context. This study is focused on improvement of the cooling energy consumption of the contemporary buildings in Biskra City, Algeria. The traditional climatic façade solutions are investigated in order to adapt them to the contemporary buildings. To define and optimize the solutions, dynamic simulation with Vi-Suite add-on Blender 3D software was used. The results show a significant reduction in the cooling energy consumption, which confirms the use of the traditional techniques that can considerably improve the building efficiency.