This paper addresses the effect of the type of habitat on thermal comfort and energy requirements for heating and cooling for 7 Algerian cities located in different climatic zones of the country. Our choice is focused on four buildings: two traditional houses: a home with overhead ceiling opening (covered patio), an open patio house; and two representative modern buildings: a detached self-built and an apartment building. The study was conducted using the TRNSYS software coupled with the aeraulic multizone simulation software COMIS. Annex A of the European Standard 15251 is applied to quantify the occupant's comfort in unconditioned spaces, and ISO 7730 is used to fix the comfort requirements to determine the energy required when the spaces are conditioned. The simulation results show that the open patio house is better in hot weather, and reduces cooling energy consumption throughout the examined cities, while the "modern" buildings give a better summer comfort in dry and cold semi arid climate but needs more cooling energy.