Passive Thermal Comfort and Energy Performance of Residential Morphologies in a Hot–Arid Climate: a Simulation-Based Assessment for Post-War Housing Reconstruction in Aleppo

Abstract

Post-war housing reconstruction in Aleppo faces the dual challenge of delivering thermal
comfort and improving thermal and energy performance under a hot-dry climate with
constrained infrastructure. This study evaluates 24 residential morphologies across four plan
families (L, U, Courtyard (box), and II) through dynamic free-running simulations in
DesignBuilder, using current-climate weather data from Meteonorm for Aleppo. Annual mean
operative temperature, PMV, PPD, discomfort hours, and heating and cooling energy demand
were integrated through a Multi‑Criteria Decision Selection (MCDS) weighted-sum model,
prioritising operative temperature and discomfort hours (weight 0.25 each) alongside PMV,
PPD, air temperature, heating demand, and cooling demand. L-type layouts demonstrated the
strongest overall performance, with L27 ranked first overall, followed by L22, L18, and L13,
while II27 ranked last (MCDS = 0.095). The study introduces a morphology-based decision
support framework integrating A/V ratio analysis, thermal comfort, energy performance, and
MCDS ranking for post-war housing reconstruction in hot–arid climates.