Investigating the Effect of Natural Ventilation on the Internal Climate Conditions of the Building during Overheating in the Mountainous Areas of Golestan

In this study, we examined the effect of natural ventilation on internal climate conditions with regard to the hygrothermal performance of the building envelopes during critical thermal conditions in Golestan province’s mountainous areas. Such research has not been conducted in the mountainous areas of Golestan, particularly in recently constructed buildings and this research demonstrates the ineffectiveness of new buildings providing acceptable thermal conditions for its residents. The thermal comfort conditions of the residents were evaluated using a questionnaire to assess the comfort zone and the sources of their discomfort throughout the warm months of the year. According to the questionnaire findings, one of the reasons for the residents' concern and discomfort was the high humidity of the space, which ranged between 58.8% and 65%. Then, utilizing environmental data collected at the research location, we simulated the hygrothermal performance of the building envelopes using WUFI software to evaluate their effect on indoor climate conditions when natural ventilation was used. The hypothesis of this study is that natural ventilation is incapable of improving the climate conditions inside the building during critical situations. According to the findings, the present building's envelopes have little effect on reducing the relative humidity of the area, and even when natural ventilation is used, the relative humidity fluctuates based on the conditions in the exterior space, and comfort conditions are still not provided. It should be highlighted that the simulation findings reveal that using natural ventilation in critical thermal circumstances raises the temperature of the indoor air. Finally, the study's findings demonstrate that present construction methods and the lack of usage of vernacular architectural features, cause a lack of thermal comfort in the interior of the building during occurance of critical thermal conditions, even when natural ventilation is used.