Redesign of an Existing Structure in Ifrane Region for Work Space for a Cooperative

The main purpose of this study is to contribute to the transformation of Zaouiat Sidi Abdeslam into an ecological village. The latter will serve as a model for promoting ecological building practices and sustainable communities in the region. Minimizing energy consumptions and losses as well as enhancing the living conditions of the village inhabitants are the major motivations for working on this particular project. An existing building in the village was chosen to be redesigned and renovated. The building will serve as a production and selling place of artisanal carpets and traditional food for women of the community in order to become independent and autonomous. The building structural redesign is the very first step in the process of renovating or retrofitting an old building. This paper proposes a structural design that takes advantage of solar thermal energy to provide a year-round comfort and good indoor environment. The proposed design was implemented in 2-D using ArchiCAD and in 3-D using DesignBuilder. In order to achieve this goal, the passive house structural design parameters of the building were studied, such as the site, the orientation and geometry of the building, windows dimensions and position, roof type, overhangs length, and finally space allocation. Other technologies related to the building design to enhance the leaving conditions of the workers are discussed like rainwater gathering. In order to take advantage of the solar heating energy, different parameters were taken into consideration. The building was elongated along the east-west direction to maximize its southern surface area. The latter was planned in a way to evenly distribute the heating and lighting loads. Using DesignBuilder and Susdesign.com, we were able to predict the shading percentage of the south facing windows. The simulations have proved that the design of the overhangs was effective. During the summer solstice, the roof overhangs provide 100% shading of the south facing windows. During the winter solstice, they provide 0% shading of the south facing windows. Finally, a cost estimation of the house renovation was calculated taking into consideration the budget constraint.