Modernisation and development have polluted the
environment and consumed the only natural resource the country has. Whatever form
development takes, it will use energy to operate and produce its products, and it will
produce waste. The continuous increase in the consumption of energy is not only consuming
an unsustainable amount of fusel fuel but it also delivers huge amounts of air pollution,
which is linked to the greenhouse effect and to ozone depletion (2). Saudi Arabia has a hot climate in the summer
and the new built environment has not taken this into consideration during the design of
buildings. This means that to provide a comfortable indoor environment buildings must
consume a large amount of energy to deal with the often excessive cooling loads that arise
from the deficiencies of the design.
Before the discovery of oil, the country's climate was the same as it is now, so the
question arises, to what extent were traditional houses and other buildings able to
maintain comfort? The use of natural means of ventilation in traditional houses was very
effective in providing a thermally comfortable space which was warm in winter and cool in
summer. In the central region, traditional houses were ventilated using two architectural
elements, the courtyard and the triangular openings. In addition the houses were built of
thick mud walls providing thermal insulation and stability.
These days energy efficient housing is essential for all who care about energy
consumption and indoor air quality. An efficient house will use less energy to cool in
summer and to heat in winter. Many factors contribute to an efficient house, one of which
is the use of natural ventilation whenever possible. Natural ventilation, along with good
thermal insulation and control of solar heat gains, can reduce energy consumption for
cooling. If traditional houses in the hot Central region of Saudi Arabia had employed such
natural ventilation methods in the past, why not use it in modern houses as a step towards
energy efficiency and better indoor air quality? This thesis therefore is concerned with
investigating natural ventilation in housing in Saudi Arabia with particular focus on
studying the triangular openings in traditional courtyard houses in the Central region.
This chapter will provide an outline of the structure of the thesis. It will introduce
the principal problem to be debated, the aim and objectives, the methodology, and the
limitations and scope of the study.