Dr. Mahdi Zandieh, Mr. Irsa Khaleghi, Mr. Ramin Rahgoshay,
Volume 22, Issue 1 (6-2012)
Abstract
In some climates, massive buildings made of stone, masonry, concrete, earth and … can be utilized as one of the simplest and
most effective ways of reducing building heating and cooling loads. Very often such savings could be achieved in the design stage
of the building and with a relatively low-cost. Such declines in building envelope heat losses combined with optimized material
configuration and proper amount of thermal insulation in the building envelope could help to decrease the building's cooling and
heating energy demands and building related co2 emission into environment. This paper presents a typical study of thermal mass
buildings, especially, a kind of masonry building called YAKHCHAL, where most of the buildings are constructed out of mud or
sun-dried bricks. They behave like a thermal mass building types. In this climate, there are great many buildings which have been
adapted to their climatic conditions. Such traditional solutions may help to overcome the energy crisis which the mankind faces
today and may face in the future.
