Enhancing Energy Efficiency in Iraqi Homes: Evaluating the Impact of Adaptive Thermal Comfort and Improved Building Envelopes

Iraqi homes currently experience power outages for 12 hours per day during the summer, leading residents to pursue alternatives to achieve more consistent power sources.The combination of a hot, arid climate and traditional building construction results in high energy consumption for thermal comfort (a large cooling load).This study explores an integrated strategy combining adaptive thermal comfort (ATC) and improved building envelope design to reduce energy consumption in typical Iraqi homes.Using IESVE software, energy consumption was modeled for three types of buildings (baseline, developed, and ultra) without and with ceiling fans as part of the adaptive thermal comfort strategy.The innovation is represented in quantifying the building energy performance under ATC by resizing the HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system for a typical Iraqi house as integrated with a ceiling fan.The simulation results showed that integrating ceiling fans can expand the thermal comfort zone, thereby reducing the cooling load and overall energy consumption.Results demonstrated that cooling energy savings increased up to 48% with resizing, while electricity demand reduction of 21% was observed across all scenarios and CO₂ emissions reduction of 18%.Implementing these strategies could enhance energy resilience and contribute to a sustainable future in hot climate regions like Iraq.