Energy in Historic Buildings: A review of hygrothermal transfer models through the building envelope

Abstract

Algiers is a city that has a rich built heritage with a great historical value and a strong identity, where different solutions meet the environmental requirements and more specifically the needs of current comfort. The aim of the work is to fit into the framework of comfort and energy aspect. This work is done in a logic of continuity by punctual and more thorough aspects that the various transformations and modifications made on the interior comfort could have, more precisely on the hygrothermal comfort of the residential building. The idea developed in this research is that the old design offers practical and sustainable solutions to the problems related to the quality of the environment and the comfort of the habitat, in order to correlate the impact of the transformations undergone during the colonial and post-colonial period on the residential buildings of the old city of Algiers. The results obtained are intended to identify the impact of these modifications on the indoor comfort. In this work, we evaluate the microclimatic conditions and the level of comfort in these traditional houses, in their old and current state. We specify that the objective of this work is to build a thorough knowledge of the functioning of these houses to meet the requirements of current comfort. In this paper, we identify the nature of colonial and post-colonial transformations in order to determine their impact on the hygrothermal comfort and indoor microclimate conditions of Ottoman residential architecture. Numerical simulation, in situ measurements and the study of many parameters were the tools that allowed us to evaluate some houses that have kept favorable living conditions and to ensure a lesser transformation, in order to maintain a comfortable and healthy indoor environment.