ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 744

worldwide problems in building construction and population growth (Yeang 1999). The potentials of high-rise buildings to achieve sustainable benefits are inevitable in our modern cities;
economically, although they are vast constructions, they need smaller footprints compared to
low-rise buildings. Moreover, they can offer greatest opportunity for recycling, reduction of infrastructure costs per-unit, conservation of land by building upwards (Sev & Aslan 2014; Taib et
al. 2010). Environmentally, as high-rise buildings reduce land surfaces, this could increase land
for vegetation and architecture, and this can lower the overall urban ambient temperature and
reduce the overall urban heat island (UHI) effect (Yeang 1999). Socially, they use multi-functional
spaces, shared spaces and managed spaces and this can strengthen social interactions (Yeang
1999). Therefore, the ecological design of high-rise buildings is in fact more crucial than those of
ordinary buildings (Sev & Aslan 2014; Oldfield et al. 2009; Ali & Armstrong 2008; Yeang 1999).
However, constructing this type of buildings is extremely critical due to their scale and huge
amounts of energy and materials consumed (Mahgoub & Abbara 2012). In addition, due to their
high operating energy requirements particularly when relying on artificial lighting and air conditioning, high embodied energy and increased maintenance costs result (Oldfield et al. 2009).In
a study in over 16 cities in the USA, it was found that the HVAC systems consume about one third
of the total energy consumption of these buildings ((Wood 2008) cited in (Sev & Aslan 2014)). This
drives the following question: What can the sky offer to the environment?
Lotfabadi (2014) argued that in order to achieve more energy efficient buildings, a new balance
should be applied between sustainability and function, motivated by both economic and environmental concerns. He added that the main environmental factors should be considered as a
way of reducing building energy demand instead of seeking for substitute energy sources (Lotfabadi 2014). Ali & Armstrong (2008) argued that one technique to meet the optimum performance in high-rise buildings could be reconsidering the renewable resources (Ali & Armstrong
2008). It would seem, therefore, that further investigations for design approaches are needed in
order to improve the environmental and economic impacts of high-rise buildings. One of these
approaches could be to reintroduce passive heating and cooling techniques –which consumes
a large percentage of energy. This could be possible through adaptation of the concept of the
traditional/vernacular courtyard in high-rise buildings; this term is known as skycourt.

3. Metho dology
The study is part of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) research, which has just initiated; the aim of the
research is to develop a design approach for skycourts in high-rise buildings in arid regions; by
investigating its potentials as a passive design strategy. The investigation of the environmental
impact of skycourt in high-rise mixed-use buildings and its effect on energy efficiency for heating
and cooling will be studied by emphasizing the following parameters; the geometry, the spatial
morphology, the orientation and finally the configuration of the skycourt along the vertical section of the high-rise buildings.
The research is multi-dimensional; that considers both main approaches: quantitative and qualitative. Therefore, it adopts a mixed methods research design as a means of collecting and analysing data. These include fieldwork and first-hand research methods; including interviews, case
studies and simulations and modelling. This research will review diverse contemporary case studies of skycourts in high-rise buildings to provide an overview about the efficiency of these skycourts in terms of passive heating and cooling by comparing the above parameters. These terms
will be evaluated and analysed in the form of matrix to compare different criteria of design. Then,

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ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy