The Role of the Ceilings with Folding Smart Shell in Creating Thermal Comfort (A Case Study of Redesigning an Educational Building in Mashhad)

It is necessary to design structures with fabrics indicating the culture and identity, in such metropolises as Mashhad, in buildings like educational buildings, which are regarded as public, crowded buildings with high effects on society and could form a great number of buildings over the city. In this regard, attentions are mostly directed at creating designs which more adapt to the climatic features and increase the level of comfort. In the current study the focus is on folding surfaces with some kind of pantographic shell used in educational places. The study is mainly concerned with presenting a way for improving the efficacy of the smart models in designing the ceilings with folding shells. The studied pantographic structures were structures with elliptical arch, extensive folding structures with elliptical arch and domal folding structures with elliptical arch, which most of the time require a cover to protect them from the rain, sunlight or wind and could be connected to the main structure itself. In the current study, it is attempted to present a strategy for increasing and improving the efficacy of smart models for designing ceilings with folding shell, considering the climatic situation, tempreture and the residents’ density in the educational building. From the objectives viewpoint, the research method is practical, and it is attempted to define a new design in a practical way and achieve some palpable results to implement the results of the study, using two software programs of Designbuilder and Matlab. Accordingly, the situation was considered in the schools from the scale of 10, based on the the smart models for designing ceilings with folding shells and the distributed thermal comfort level based on the simulated models. The results show that there is a relationship between the matter mentioned and the optimization of energy consumption. With regards to the instruction of double-skin folding shell used in summer and winter, it was indicated that the best plan of  smart double-skin folding shell for obtaining the best situation for air conditioning is the instruction of double-skin folding (opening) shell used  for 6 hours in summer and 2 hours in winter, the instruction of double-skin folding shell (opening) used for 6.5 hours in summer and 2.5 hours in winter and the instruction of double-skin folding shell (opening) used for 5.5 hours in summer and 2 hours in winter.