Energy Performance of Caravan in Za'atari Camp by Modelling Passive Design Factors in EnergyPlus

Improve energy performance in buildings can reduce emissions through energy efficiency. Furthermore, thermal comfort has been proven to be a fundamental factor for healthy housing. A design that considers climate weather conditions guarantees a more efficient energy performance and better health condition for the inhabitants. This research estimates and analyses the energy performance of caravans located in Za'atari camp located in the Jordanian-Syrian border, which is one of the more developed refugee camps. A regular caravan in Za'atari camp is dwelt by six people, leaving 3.5 m2 per person. The case study is based in one of the most used caravans in the region. The caravan has a size of 3×7m, made of polyurethane panels. The energy performance and thermal comfort are typically low in refugee camps due to construction materials and design reasons. In this paper, it is explored the optionality to include passive design element categories for the caravans as a low-cost way of improving thermal comfort and energy savings. The results presented are based on a total of thirty simulations split in seven different passive design elements to evaluate energy performance. The simulations are run on SketchUp Pro 2017, OpenStudio 2.6.0 and EnergyPlus 8.9.0. The model was calibrated by data contained in EnergyPlus weather files (.epw and.ddy), specifications sheets, and information about materials from the Building Component Library. The aim of this case study is to evaluate what passive design elements are most effective to include in further construction of temporary shelter such as caravans in refugee camps. The energy consumption in an as-built caravan is 172.1 kWh/m2 every year while a typical consumption in Amman. Jordan located 76km from Za'atari is of 91.4 kWh/m2/year in a typical apartment. The most passive elements with greatest impact in energy consumption were thickness (120 mm) with an energy consumption of 143.9 kWh/m2/year, shade (length 200 mm) with an energy consumption of 163.4 kWh/m2/year, and total window area (2 m2) with an energy consumption of 167.5 kWh/m2/year. Considering a combination of passive design elements, it was achieved an energy consumption of 148.5 kWh/m2/year by adding all the passive design factors with the best performance.