POTENTIAL OF EARTH SHELTERED BUILDINGS FOR THERMALCOMFORT

Abstract

Earth is the cheapest and as well as commonly available material with enormous potential within it.
The studies have been conducted for working out the energy usage of earth-sheltered building as
compare to conventional above-ground building for thermal comfort with the help of energy
simulation tools.
Simulations will be focused on the influence of soil cover and the thermal insulation of building
covering thickness and will be done for hot and dry climatic region. These models have been
translated into computer software for excellence and efficiency in building design.
During summer due to the because of more thermal inertia of soil adjoining earth sheltered building
heat losses to the ground are more which helps to cool down the air temperature naturally in a
building.
The paper attempts to generate the comparative study of the earth sheltered buildings and
conventional above ground buildings with the help of energy simulation softwares and select an
appropriate one for simulating the various building design options for an ongoing research, “Design
of Earth Sheltered Buildings”.