Impact of courtyard orientation on thermal performance of school buildings' temperature

The focus on green efficient schools is increasing globally. Both private and public-school buildings in the UAE are considered high energy consumers, using significant amounts of energy to maintain a comfortable thermal environment for students. Unfortunately, the designs of these schools have overlooked traditional passive design solutions such as courtyard design and orientation, which can improve internal thermal conditions while minimizing energy consumption. Therefore, this research aims to examine and emphasize the thermal impact of courtyard design and orientation in five existing public schools, with the goal of incorporating these considerations into future green school designs. The research utilized a qualitative approach, employing ENVI-met software to analyze the thermal effects of the schools' orientations. The findings indicated that the case studies exhibited varying temperatures based on the orientation and configuration of their courtyards. Furthermore, the research identified the optimal school building courtyard, which belonged to the UPA-fin school. This design featured north-facing, semi-opened courtyard that blocked hot winds, with rectangular shape oriented east-west, and specific proportions for courtyard area to plot area 26%, and to building area 40%. Compared to the poorest school courtyard design KAT, UPA-fin recorded temperature reductions of 1.7 °C and 1.8 °C on 21st September and March respectively.