Atrium Impact on a School-Building: Thermal Performance in a Hot Climate

Abstract

The process of climate change has increased the planet’s mean temperature. An example of this are the 44.3 °C registered in July in the cities of Córdoba and Seville (Spain). In this scenario, the educational centers in Andalusia, mostly built during the 20th century, are unable to reach the thermal comfort inside the classrooms throughout the year, without resorting to mechanical air conditioning procedures. This study simultaneously monitors indoors, outdoors and transitional spaces of a case study to verify the effectiveness of the passive cooling systems and the Atrium thermal effect of the building. Our results demonstrate that temperatures inside classrooms are influenced by the orientation and their air circulation (atrium or outdoor) and as expected, the higher temperature in the building are registered in the classrooms in the last floor.