Effect of the passive strategies on thermal comfort in economic dwellings in warm-dry climates

Some regions of Mexico have recently increasedtheir population significantly, due tolocally economical growths. Because of thissituation, an accelerated growth in the constructionof certain type of economic dwellingstakes place. These houses vary from 36 to 45 m2of construction area. The behavior of thesetypes of dwellings in warm-dry climates hasbeen analyzed. In these climates, an adequatearchitectonic design, considering thermal aspects,is indispensable, in order to obtain the requiredcomfort conditions. Simulation results ofthese dwellings located in northwest Mexico areshown, using PowerDoe and Ecotect programs.The building has been analyzed under its currentconditions, and changing its orientation, applyingshadow devices on windows and optimizingthe construction materials, with the purpose ofimproving the thermal comfort indoors. Theheat gains through the different constructiveelements have been obtained, to analyze the impactof them on global thermal comfort. Also,the viability of using the exergy methodology inthe analysis of building elements is demonstrated.