Heated atrium in multi-storey apartment buildings : a design for better energy efficiency and social interactions

• The shape factor of a building expresses the ratio between the building’s thermal envelope area and its volume, or alternatively to its useful floor area. Buildings with lower shape factors will have lower heat losses through the thermal envelope and lower specific final energy demand. The shape factor of building could be reduced by a compact building shape design, and by increasing the volume of the building. However, the requirement for indoor natural light put a limit on the size of the building and therefore may limit the value of the shape factor. One possible solution to address this aspect is designing building with a heated atrium.An atrium is a large enclosed space within a building, and may have a glazed roof. In a multi-story apartment building an atrium has the potential to increase the social interaction between the residents and, with the right design, at the same time reduce the heating demand of the building due to lower building shape factor. However, the use of atrium in residential buildings in Nordic countries has not yet gained popularity.In this paper the impact of the heated atrium building with cylindrical shape design on the specific final energy is investigated by comparing such building design to conventional design buildings with similar floor area. The Nydalahuset project, in city Umeå in the north of Sweden, which is a multistory residential building with a heated atrium, is used as a case study to investigate the affect of the atrium on the social interaction among the building occupants.The results show that heated atrium building with cylindrical shape design is a better energy efficient design than the conventional buildings. Such buildings in cold climate could help to reduce the heat losses through the thermal envelope and facilitate to achieve the passive house criteria. Moreover, the Nydalahuset project suggests that the atrium design could improve the social interaction of occupants in residential buildings.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Naturresursteknik -- Energisystem (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Environmental Engineering -- Energy Systems (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik -- Miljöanalys och bygginformationsteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering -- Environmental Analysis and Construction Information Technology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Heated atrium

shape factor

social interaction

Nydalahuset

multi-story building

final energy demand

Social interaction

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)