Sustainable Materials and Methods for Developing Affordable Refugee Core Shelters

Abstract

The main research question has been answered based on qualitative and quantitative analysis and using the dynamic program Indoor Climate and Energy IDA ICE 4.8 SP2 simulation and Excel sheets software. The comprehensive and concise question was, what is the current condition of shelters regarding construction techniques and performance based on conventionally used materials in Iraq and what other methods and upgrading phases could be adopted to design and propose new sustainable shelter typologies? Additionally, several sustainable construction methods and materials have been investigated then; based on the context of this research, low impact construction (LIC) through the bottom-up approach, besides the incremental strategy, have been targeted. Furthermore, the current condition of shelters regarding construction techniques based on conventionally used materials in Duhok City in Iraq has been analyzed. Moreover, by proposing a novel construction method through the bottom-up one, the study offered the opportunity to prolong the lifespan of shelters and enhance the indoor environment and energy performance by assessing and comparing nine different scenarios