THE EFFECT OF ASPECT RATIO ON THE THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF BUILDINGS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE OF THE GAZA STRIP

This paper investigates the effect of street aspect ratio (H/W) on the incident solar radiation falling on the street s ground and overlooking facades, and thus the energy consumption of buildings in the Mediterranean climate of the Gaza strip. Thermal simulation software namely, Ecotect and IDA ICE, were used to carry out the investigation and find out the optimum streets design. The study examines eight aspect ratios (H/W) ranging from 4 to 0.5 at various orientation angles. The results indicate that the received solar radiation is reduced by 130.2 % in summer with increasing the aspect ratio from 0.5 to 4.0 at (N-S) orientation. Narrow street canyons with aspect ratio of 4.0 provides the maximum energy savings throughout the year. About 37.25% of energy consumption can be reduced by choosing the optimum orientation angle, which is E-W in the Gaza strip. Therefore, the study recommends to pay more attention to the streets design, especially with regard to their aspect ratios and orientations for the purpose of energy saving.