Trade-off lighting to minimize the cooling loads in semi-arid climate zone

This study investigated how two different shading devices influenced cooling loads in a low-rise household during a summer peak load week, specifically while employing energy-efficient Light Emitting Diode illumination instead of natural light. This research analyzed two locations east of the Mediterranean Sea—Al Mafraq and Dara’a Cities—within the same climate zone: cold semi-arid steppe. A 3D thermodynamic design was developed using Revit and Design-Builder programs. The findings suggest that employing shading devices during peak load summer week effectively reduces the electricity demand for indoor cooling, which declined by 63 % and 58 % in Al Mafraq and Dara’a Cities, respectively. In comparison, the increase in lighting loads is not comparable to this decrease, which is 16 % in both locations. In Al-Mafraq City, the daily cooling load in the summer peak week from the 19th to the 23rd of August recorded the lowest value of the whole week at 7.50 kWh and reached its peak with a value of 10.09 kWh on the 23rd of August. On the other hand, Dara’a City recorded the lowest value of the whole week at 5.67 kWh and reached its peak with a value of 9.13 kWh on the 23rd of August, then to a value of 8.37 kWh.This research’s scientific novelty lies in the locations of the countries investigated, the relationship between the location’s sun hours and lighting and cooling loads, and its vulnerability to climate change.