Impact of a Retrofitting Project on Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency of a Historic School in Miliana, Algeria

The French colonial architecture heritage in Algeria, in which the users did not use either heating, cooling active systems or artificial lighting, was classified as sustainable architecture before time. This old architecture nowadays needs to be rebuilt due to natural and men effects on it. Among these heritages, the secondary school in Miliana located in the north of Algeria. The present work deals with the effects of rehabilitation act on building behavior such as thermal and visual comfort inside its spaces. In order to estimate the inside thermal and visual comfort, three main methods were used. Firstly, field measurements followed by numerical simulation evaluations of the mentioned comfort were conducted during the using period of the building. Secondly, a qualitative evaluation of comfort was done after the completion of the rehabilitation works, by interviewing the users to set the values of thermal and visual comfort needed in the school's classrooms by the users. Thirdly, based on the comfort values required in classrooms, a numerical simulation was performed to find the best rehabilitation solutions to fulfill the comfort conditions required.

Automated summary

The French colonial architecture heritage in Algeria, which did not use modern active systems, now needs to be rebuilt due to natural and human effects. The study focused on the effects of rehabilitation on thermal and visual comfort through field measurements, numerical simulations, and user interviews to determine the best solutions for fulfilling comfort conditions.