Atria are added to buildings for their aesthetical, environmental, and economic benefits; the appropriate atrium design can enhance an atrium’s thermal performance and the adjacent spaces’ temperatures. However, inappropriate design decisions cause thermal discomfort and consequently, higher energy consumption. Since the Mediterranean climate has diverse climatic conditions around the year, a central atrium with a top-lit skylight is recommended, but during the summer period it can cause overheating, and the insertion of shading elements shrinks the lighting performance: thus, the atrium skylight design is supposed to improve thermal comfort without affecting the lighting level. This study investigated the improvement of thermal performance in the atrium building by the implementation of a double-skin skylight (DSS) to enhance the atrium thermal performance without shading. The research conducted computer simulations with Environmental Design Solutions (EDSL) Tas software sequentially. The study prepared various design strategies, and different proposals were tested and compared in terms of indoor temperatures, with reference to American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE-55). The implementation of DSS achieved an average of 77% comfort in working hours around the year with different opening percentages according to the outdoor conditions. Moreover, results show that changing the DSS glazing materials did not affect the thermal performance of the atrium.

Climate-resilient buildings in Palestine can play an important role in a more sustainable residential building sector. This paper aims at evaluating the effects of adopting architectural design strategies and material technologies from vernacular architecture to create a new climate-resilient building. The paper targets single houses as these represent the majority of residential buildings in suburban and rural areas, and are similar to the vernacular architecture in size and functionality. The EDSL Tas simulation tool was used to assess the thermal performance and energy savings in the proposed model compared with traditional houses and modern typical houses, in two different climatic zones. The proposed climate-resilient house has materials and design strategies derived from vernacular architecture, in addition to the use of thermal insulation. The results show that the proposed house is more climate-resilient compared to modern houses. In cold winter and hot summer climates, the proposed model presents a total annual heating and cooling energy consumption of 59% less than typical modern houses, and 5% more than old buildings. In hot arid summer and warm winter climates, the proposed house presents a total annual heating and cooling energy consumption of 58% less than a modern typical house and 8% more than the traditional house.