The impact of classroom orientation on daylight and heat-gain performance in the Lebanese Coastal zone

Abstract

Energy conservation is one of the significant goals in the world nowadays, especially in Lebanon. Daylighting is one of the most important parameters within energy saving, while heating or cooling systems in buildings are the main energy consumption parameters. In classrooms, daylight is essential for the educational process both physically and psychologically.In Lebanon, and according to the Lebanese government‘s Decree number 9091, the norm within classroom design is to orient the long façade towards the South, no matter what the climatic zone. For instance, a classroom orientation in Mountain climatic zones with snow precipitation during the winter is the same for a classroom in the Coastal zone (with Mediterranean zone characteristics).This research studies the validity of the Lebanese government‘s Decree number 9091 for classroom orientation in the Lebanese climatic Coastal zone. A theoretical approach and simulation for a case study were applied to obtain a tangible result regarding the priority of the daylight and heat-gain parameters and the most suitable orientation for achieving the preferable daylighting and acceptable heat gain. Keywords: Classroom, Orientation, Daylight, Heat gain, Lebanese Coastal zone, sDA, ASE, UDI