Assessing the Domestic Energy Use and Thermal Comfort of Occupants in a Post-war Social Housing Development Estate in Famagusta, Northern Cyprus

Efforts to retrofit post-war residential buildings have gained increasing momentum recently, especially after the European Union called for a zero carbon–emission target by 2050. This study presents a novel methodological framework for determining the most effective energy policy for implementing the EPBD mandates and improving the energy efficiency of existing post-war social housing stock in the South-eastern Mediterranean climate of Cyprus. The study examines how energy policy and regulation is carried out in this area through analysis of nationally representative archetype buildings in the coastal city of Famagusta where the weather is subtropical (Csa) and partly semi-arid (Bsa). The developed empirical framework integrates the socio-technical-systems (STS) approach and provides data about households through field interviews to better understand the relations between sociodemographic characteristics, energy use and thermal comfort. The in-vivo experiences of householders’ thermal-sensation votes is assessed to predict individual aspects of adaptive thermal comfort and its relevance to overheating. Data is collected from in-situ measurements, including recordings of household indoor-air temperatures integrated with thermal-imaging surveys and heatflux measurements of building fabric elements, along with concurrent on-site monitoring of environmental conditions and a review of household energy bills to accurately determine actual energy use. The results reveal that in a non-retrofitted building, cooling and heating comprise the greatest proportion (73%) of total energy consumption. Applications for six passive cooling design strategies are then analysed, and after the life-cycle cost assessment of each is considered, off-site modular building applications are developed. After building optimisation, it is found that approximately an 81% savings related to cooling consumption can be achieved, which suggests that design, ventilation, and servicing strategies, combined with passive shading systems, can improve the energy efficiency and indoor-air quality of residential buildings.

Supplementary material for 'Assessing the Domestic Energy Use and Thermal Comfort of Occupants in a Post-war Social Housing Development Estate in Famagusta, Northern Cyprus' is available at: https://repository.uel.ac.uk/item/8q770