Chapter 7: Differential Pressure Effect on Air Flow Through the “Takhtabush”

People have tried from ancient times to adapt their buildings to the harsh climate in the hot–dry zone by reducing heat impacts. They used to open their houses onto a private internal open space that was visually and acoustically separated from the outside, called Sahn “The courtyard.” The courtyard helps maintain cooled indoor temperatures by employing the stack effect phenomenon. Clean, oxygen-rich air for breathing is human life’s most pressing environmental requirement. The Takhtabush, “A covered outdoor sitting area at ground level,” was introduced to the traditional courtyard to ensure the airflow. It is located between the courtyard and the back garden, opening completely onto the courtyard and through a Mashrabiya onto the back garden, which ensures a steady flow of air by convection. Since the back garden is bigger and has more sunlight, it will heat up faster than the courtyard. The sun’s radiation will make air movement and create a cool air flow in the Takhtabush, leading to the courtyard. However, the orientation of the building is also a big matter when using Takhtabush. Knowing the good wind and the sunlight orientation will surely affect the way it works. This chapter aims to investigate the effectiveness of the size of the backyard and its exposure to solar radiation on the thermal performance of the courtyard on the urban scale. The expected results confirm quantitatively and qualitatively the importance of employing the Takhtabush with the exposed-to-sun backyard to enhance the thermal performance of the open courtyard.