Influence of site on thermal design of a two floor ZEH in the desert

The paper presents the results of investigating the effect of Latitude angle and environmental temperature on the thermal behavior and performance of a fully equipped, air-conditioned, zero energy house located in a desert residential compound. It makes use of the thermal design and analysis tools presented in other work and extends the investigation to include different site environmental characteristics. Data from eight different meteorological sites in the KSA where considered. It is demonstrated that for the same house and occupancy profile, the PV modules, battery storage, and air-conditioning equipment requirements can differ markedly depending on local environment properties. During Summer and Spring the main heat load is due to cooling, but during winter season the load can vary from full cooling, to mixed cooling and heating, to even full heating; the heating load sometimes dictating the size of the required equipment.