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Within the global trend of looking for energy efficient and environmentally comfortable buildings, the courtyard pattern has been investigated by many authors as an interesting solution for hot regions. Computer simulation tools have been used for this purpose, as they provide wide-ranging possibilities that cannot be obtained in field experiments, including assessing different building design variants under identical climate conditions. However, simulation of courtyards remains challenging, as courtyards are building spaces that are partly open to the outdoor climate and typical building simulation tools are not designed to cope with such situations. This research investigates the capabilities of DesignBuilder in simulating the courtyard thermal behavior. DesignBuilder has been selected due to its wide use amongst architects and building service engineers, and because of its inclusive measurements and validated accuracy. Software simulation results have been compared with real life measurements. The results show that DesignBuilder simulation results are quite different from measured results, raising doubts over the applicability of the software in this specific context. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.