Mohammadjavad Mahdavinejad^1,, Negar Badri², Maryam Fakhari³, Mahya Haqshenas²

As a covering method of buildings` roof, domed roof have mostly been applied in Iran and other countries according to adobe material abundance comparing with timber ones. Furthermore, dome remains in first place in architectural designs due to their favorable thermal performance; so that it has been widely utilized in mosques, shrines, churches, bazaar and schools construction. On this account, the current research studies on the role of shape in roofs energy loss specifically in cold annual period to achieve the optimized form. The paper discusses a comparison to four types of roof (slab and three types of dome) in hot and dry climatic zone of Iran, Esfahan city. The research method is based upon modeling and simulation. It is to find the most efficient form of buildings which can be designed in contemporary architecture of developing countries. The result shows that although the flat shape roof appears in an appropriate thermal performance, there is a meaningful correlation between roofs total volumes and heating load at night, however the result is in need of further investigation.

roof shape, domes, thermal performance, energy efficient methods, hot and dry climate