Soil Thermal Inertia Effect on Shallow Basement Energy Performance in Different Morocco Climates

Abstract

This study deals with the energy performance of a shallow basement in six climates ranging from cold to desert climate. A case study of a partially buried house located in the hot semi-arid climate of Marrakech (Morocco) is first monitored during 2 months in summer and 2 months in winter. A trnsys model of this house was built and validated against the monitoring results. Simulation results show that the annual thermal load of the partially buried house is always lower than that of the corresponding above ground building house except for the Atlantic climate. Indeed, burying the house at 1.2 m reduces its annual thermal load by 19% at least in the Mediterranean climate and by about 39% in the cold climate.