The role of integrated landscape design in energy conservation in detached dwellings in the Arabian Gulf region

This paper presents an overview of the landscape design considerations, rationale for the selection of specific hard and soft landscape elements and initial observations of their influence in controlling the microclimate in detached residential buildings in the Arabian Gulf region. This experiment is part of a wider research programme in the field of passive solar cooling strategies at the King Faisal University, sponsored by the Joint United States-Saudi Arabian Programme for Cooperation in the field of Solar Energy (SOLERAS). The objective is to identify the comfort enhancement potential of a carefully planned and executed integrated landscape design in a full-scale prototype passive solar cooling test house. Conventional concrete-block load-bearing construction with external insulation and heavy internal thermal mass was used. Fanger Predicted Mean Vote, as a function of dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature, air velocity and mean radiant temperature, was calculated and recorded continuously. These values have been averaged to evaluate hourly comfort conditions in various zones of the test house. Outdoor solar radiation and heat transferred through walls, openings and roof were similarly recorded before landscape layout and during the initial growth process of the plant material. The full potential of an integrated landscape design towards comfort enhancement can only be assessed after several years of continuous monitoring during the growth period of the plant material. Initial observations, nevertheless, tend to confirm results obtained by other researchers in their studies of the effects of specific individual landscape elements.