Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14

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Building and Environment

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenv

A study of indoor thermal parameters for naturally ventilated occupied T

buildings in the warm-humid climate of southern India
Mona Doctor-Pingela,b,∗, Vishnu Vardhana,b, Sanyogita Manuc, Gail Bragerd, Rajan Rawalc
a
Studio Naqshbandi, Auroville, Tamil Nadu, 605111, India
b
Centre for Scientific Research, Auroville, Tamil Nadu, 605111, India
c
Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380009, India
d
Center for Environmental Design Research, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The ever-increasing demand for built spaces to cater to the needs of the tropical population compels for the
Building monitoring adoption of sustainable building forms and passive design strategies. This research aims at studying the cases of
Warm and humid six naturally ventilated occupied buildings constructed in the tropical ‘warm and humid’ climate of Pondicherry
Passive design and Auroville, India. The buildings were subjected to long-term data logging and sporadic hand-held mea-
Natural ventilation
surements. Indoor parameters of air temperature (Ta), surface temperature (Ts), and relative humidity (RH)
Adaptive thermal comfort
IMAC
across six living spaces, eight roof assemblies, and six passive design strategies were logged on an hourly basis
and analysed for the hottest and coldest months. In order to estimate the thermal comfort, Ta readings of the
most occupied zones were compared against ASHRAE-55 adaptive thermal comfort model and India Model for
Adaptive Comfort (IMAC) temperature limits. This research showed that the hourly averaged Ta and RH in the
six naturally ventilated spaces at the hottest summer hour (13:00) was between 31.0 and 33.2 °C and
56.0–69.0% while the outdoors were at 36.9 °C and 43.3% respectively. The hourly averaged rooftop and ceiling
Ts for the unshaded roofs at 14:00 h during peak summer was between 53.0-43.4 °C and 36.6–31.0 °C respec-
tively, while a shaded roof had a rooftop and ceiling Ts of 34.5 °C and 31.9 °C respectively. The passive design
strategies of exposed cavity walls, night ventilation, and optimised building forms were found to be the most
effective. The number of uncomfortable hours predicted by the ASHRAE model were found to be 93.4% higher
than those by IMAC.

1. Introduction agglomerations” like Mexico City, Mumbai, Kolkata, Rio de Janeiro,

With the ever-increasing adversity of climate change and global
warming, the urban masses have been experiencing drastic climatic
events. The tropics are more susceptible to these changes as the ele-
vating temperatures are prone to question their very liveability. The
concern for tropics is graver as they house 40% of the world's popula-
tion with its inhabitants growing at the rate of 2.2% per year, in
comparison to 1.4% growth for the rest of the world [1]. The updated
Köppen-Geiger classification by Peel et al. classifies the landmass in
Southeast Asia, Central and Western Africa, Northern Oceania, Tropical
South and Central America, and Coastal India under the ‘Aw – Tropical
Savanna’ climate, with the minimum average monthly temperature of
18 °C throughout the year and variable wet and dry months as per
further sub-classifications [2]. Norris describes how 1 billion of the 1.5
billion people living in these tropical regions occupy advanced “urban
Manila, Lagos, Guangzhou, Kinshasa, Shenzhen, Jakarta, and Lima [3].
These facts are a clear indication that the population of these tropical
hotspots is growing rapidly and will eventually lead to far greater en-
ergy consumption and footprint.
India is the seventh largest economy in the world but with a per
capita energy consumption of just 16.8% of the cumulative average of
the world's top six economies as of 2014 [4]. However, the predicted
growth rate is poised to improve the Indian economy and elevate the
energy consumption substantially in the coming decades. Studies pre-
dict an annual increase of 4.9% in the total energy consumption and
3.2% in the energy consumption by buildings in India until the year
2040, which is highest in comparison to any other country [5,6].
This paper presents new research to help aid the Indian and global
demand for sustainable buildings by documenting thermal parameters
across six naturally ventilated buildings in order to – a. highlight the

∗
Corresponding author. Studio Naqshbandi, Auroville, Tamil Nadu, 605111, India.
E-mail address: mona@auroville.org.in (M. Doctor-Pingel).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.01.026
Received 13 November 2018; Received in revised form 19 January 2019; Accepted 21 January 2019
Available online 22 January 2019
0360-1323/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
M. Doctor-Pingel et al.
Fig. 1. Location of Pondicherry and Auroville on the Indian eastern coast [7].
prominence of passive design strategies in the warm-humid climate
zone, - b. provide data for prospective simulations and studies con-
cerning buildings in the tropical climate, and – c. demonstrate the ap-
plicability of India Model for Adaptive Comfort (IMAC). This research
highlights the case of six buildings located in the warm-humid climatic
zone of the coastal south Indian union territory of Pondicherry and a
nearby international township of Auroville in the state of Tamil Nadu,
as shown in Fig. 1. The six buildings, as detailed in Table 1, were
subjected to component-level monitoring for a period of over a year to
yield air temperature (Ta), surface temperature (Ts), and relative hu-
midity (RH) readings for selected indoor zones and passive design
features.
1.1. Buildings under study
Table 1 shows the six naturally ventilated buildings chosen on the
basis of the variety of function, passive design strategies, and feasibility
of monitoring. These buildings were chosen from over 20 shortlisted
buildings, as they represented a unique case of passive design strategies
and building form. Most importantly, the design intent of the architects
of these buildings was heavily focussed on climate responsiveness. This
design intent was reflected in the spatial configuration and material
selection across all these buildings. The photographs of the chosen
buildings are shown in Fig. 2. Each of these buildings was studied for
indoor Ta and RH in the most occupied living space, temperatures
across passive design strategies (Fig. 3), and Ts across the roof assem-
blies (Fig. 4).
1.2. Previous studies
With the impending plight of climate change and an exponentially
increasing tropical population, the comfort of occupants in passively
designed buildings in the region has been of popular research interest
for the last 2 decades [14]. Most of the thermal comfort studies in the
warm-humid tropical zones followed the adaptive and PMV-PPD ap-
proach, as discussed by Dagigh and Yang et al. [15,16]. These studies
recorded the thermal sensation and lifestyle patterns (clothing, activity
levels, hours of operation, etc.) of the local occupants through surveys
with simultaneous measurements of indoor and outdoor thermal para-
meters, followed by statistically defining the neutral temperature (Tn)
and acceptable ranges of temperature, and ultimately yielding the
general trend of comfort for the occupants [17–24].
These studies repeatedly proved that the internationally accepted
thermal comfort standards, as proposed by ASHRAE for adaptive
thermal comfort, did not conform to the local comfort levels unan-
imously [25,26]. Manu et al. in their study on India Model for Adaptive
Comfort (IMAC) proposed a model to define the comfortable range for
naturally ventilated buildings based on a survey of the Indian masses -
this model was found to be more accurate for the Indian population in
2
Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14
comparison to ASHRAE – 55 adaptive thermal comfort model [21].
Multiple other studies including Indraganti et al., Toe et al., Khan et al.,
and Beccali et al. drew the same conclusion [23,27–29].
Sproul et al. found out that white roofs were significantly more
efficient than green and black roofs in cooling the globe and re-
mediating global warming [30]. Al-Obaidi et al. further elaborated on
passive roofing methods in tropical Southeast Asia – they concluded
that a site-specific approach was the key when deciding between re-
flective and radiative cooling options [31]. Rehman documented up to
25.3% reduction in the operating loads of a building with reflective
coatings in comparison to radiative roofs [32]. Roslan et al. found re-
flective roofs to be more efficient than radiative roofs for the warm-
humid climate [33]. The white reflective roofs under study in this re-
search consistently provided lower ceiling Ts and kept the indoors
cooler in comparison to the radiative roofs.
Omar et al. highlighted how the presence of a ventilated cavity (as
used in case 1) could bring down the heat flux and consequent cooling
loads by 50% in comparison to a standard roof; additional insulation on
the ceiling side would reduce the same to 85% [34]. This paper is an
extension to the study of Doctor-Pingel et al. – wherein, Ta/Ts for the
hottest day, in addition to seasonal damping across the roof assembly,
has been presented for the building in case 1 [35]. This paper elaborates
the same study with a focus on the cavity wall, double ventilated roof,
and adaptive thermal comfort of the building for the first time.
Da Rosa et al. and Chabannes et al. studied the usage of rice husk as
an insulating layer, as used in case 3 - the studies commented on the
applicability of rice husk as a natural binder and insulator [36,37]. The
vernacular ‘madras’ and terracotta roofing, as used in cases 2 and 4,
were studied by Madhumathi et al. and Ramesh to find them adapted to
the warm-humid climate of south India with a low embodied energy
content and their ability to contribute to a Ta drop of 6–8 °C for living
spaces [38,39]. However, the short duration of monitoring by Madhu-
mathi et al. cannot be deemed suitable to provide reliable readings on a
long-term basis. The roofing strategy of naturally ventilated domes and
vaults have been studied by Dabaieh et al. – they find ventilated domes
to be more comfortable in comparison to ventilated vaults [40].
The impact of microclimate and landscape had been widely re-
searched for the warm-humid climate in the Southeast Asian countries –
Brown et al. and Yang et al. studied the effect of green spaces and
various urban surfaces for the cities of Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou
respectively [41,42]. They found that increasing the natural shade
through trees was the most effective strategy to reduce thermal stress,
while paved surfaces doubled up as ‘heat sources’ to add on to ambient
heating. Yang et al. described how plating of trees could lead to a
temperature reduction by up to 15.2 °C in the warm-humid climates.
Yang et al., in another paper, quoted on the ability of water bodies
in reducing the ambient temperature while increasing the humidity and
leading to discomfort during the humid hours [43]. Manteghi et al. and
Syafii et al. also studied the impact of water bodies on the microclimate
M. Doctor-Pingel et al. Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14

in the tropical and sub-tropical urban climates to find out that water

Bedroom, Domes and Vault, Air

SEP 2013-AUG 2014 and JAN

Mukuduvidu Residence (AV)

bodies cooled the ambience during warmer instances of heat waves and

Poppo Pingel, Mona Doctor-

had a potential to remediate the urban heat island [44,45]. However,

Stratification in Dome
Manetghi et al. pointed out that water bodies contributed to elevated

G+1 with 2 rooms

Private Residence
temperatures and humidity during the evening to early-night hours that
2015-OCT 2015

might lead to discomfort.

Pingel (1992)
Unoccupied
8:00–17:00
Ghaffarianhoseini et al. analysed the effect of courtyards in the

Case 6
warm-humid climate of Kuala Lumpur and concluded that increasing

[13]
210
2–3

the courtyard height, albedo of the exposed walls, and placement of

83 foliage in the courtyard space significantly increased thermal comfort;
Bedroom, AAC Insulated Roof

Dhanya Pater, Dr Chaman Lal

however, excessive shade could lead to ventilation blockage and prove
to be counterproductive [46]. Another simulation-based study by
Assembly, Balcony (Night

Blessing House (AV) [12]

G+1 with 2 rooms and a Almhafdy et al. commented on the importance of aspect ratio of the U-
Private Residence and
SEP 2013-AUG 2014

shaped courtyards – a courtyard having an aspect ratio of 1:2 performed

Always Occupied

better than one with the aspect ratio of 1:1; the inclusion of elongated
Gupta (2007)
cantilevered roofs above the courtyard also helped improve the thermal
Workplace

mezzanine
Flushing)

comfort of the zone [47]. Yasa et al., simulate the performance of

Case 5
standardly sized courtyards in various climates to find the square ‘H’
107
2–3

24

typology best suited to the warm-humid climate in terms of least solar

Traditional Franco-Tamil (circa 1900);

radiation [48]. However, no study was found to mention a long-term

measurement of thermal variables in and around the courtyard and is
G+1 with 10 rooms and an open
Passage, ‘Madras’ Roof Assembly,

restored by INTACH Pondicherry

being presented for the first time in this paper.

Landsman et al. studied case 5 (from this study), which utilizes
INTACH Office (PY) [11]

‘night ventilation’ as a passive design strategy to establish its effec-

NOV 2013-OCT 2014

tiveness over other ventilation strategies [49]. This paper adds on to the
Central Courtyard

study by comparing the hourly averaged temperatures for the hottest

and coldest months for the zone affected by night flushing against an
9:00–18:00

courtyard
Occupied

adjacent balcony zone, allowing us to contrast the difference in Ta of

(1984)

Case 4
30–35

Office

the zone experiencing the effect of night flushing and the zone which is
244
22

not. Ran et al. reported night-time reductions of up to 1.5 °C with the

combined effect of night flushing and a green roof for the warm-humid
Assembly, Indoor Cavity Wall

G+2 with 20 rooms with two

Offices Occupied 9:00–17:00

Luminosity Apartments (AV)

David Nightingale, Ganesh

climate [50]. Jamaludin et al. found night ventilation better than the
Collective Residence and
Apartments Unoccupied
Bedroom, Shaded Roof

full-day ventilation strategy for warm-humid locales of Malaysia and

rooftop living spaces
OCT 2013-SEP 2014

reported Ts reductions of up to 3.9 °C [51]. Simulation-based studies by

Fagih et al. and Soleimani et al. comment on the distribution of thermal
parameters in the dome and establish their applicability over flat roofs
Bala (2010)
8:00–17:00

[52,53], yet, air stratification in domes has not been researched in

Offices

Case 3
20–25

detail and is being presented for the first time.

[10]
575
57

The evident literature gap of unavailability of long-term thermal

G+1 with 3 rooms and cottages

readings for occupied zones, passive design strategies (exposed and

Hollow Block Roof, Landscape

Afsanah Guesthouse (AV) [9]

Dining Area, Terracotta and

indoor cavity wall, sand garden, night ventilation) and roofing strate-
gies (ventilated double roof, terracotta roof, hollow AAC block roof,
Commercial Residence
SEP 2013-AUG 2014

Poppo Pingel (2003)

shaded RCC roof, traditional madras roof, domes, and vaults) for
Always occupied

buildings in the warm-humid climatic zone has been identified and

attempted to be filled through this paper. In addition, indoor tem-
peratures have been compared against IMAC and ASHRAE-55 adaptive
Case 2
10–15

comfort limits for naturally ventilated structures for the first time.
106
315

2. Methodology and instrumentation

G+3 with 51 rooms and a semi-
Ventilated Roof, Exposed Cavity

Golconde Dormitories (PY) [8]

Sammer, George Nakashima
Antonin Raymond, Francois

2.1. Research approach

Dormitory Room, Double
SEP 2013-AUG 2014

Collective Residence

The research initiated with the identification of the most prominent

buildings in the region of Auroville and Pondicherry. As described in
Details of the six buildings under study.

Unoccupied
8:00–17:00

section 1.1, the choice of six buildings was based on the uniqueness of
basement

the passive design strategies, the permission for long-term monitoring,

(1942)

Case 1
50–60
Wall

600

and the variety of function. Thereafter, each of the six selected build-
22

ings was studied in depth through the analysis of building drawings and
site-visits in order to identify the specific zones and thermal parameters
Zones/Features Studied

Zone under study (m2)

to be monitored. This step also helped ascertain the number of required

Built-up Area (m2)

Storeys and rooms

loggers and their positioning across the building.

Monitoring Period

Architects(Year of
No. of Occupants
Hours Occupied/

completion)
Unoccupied

A market survey was conducted to identify the best long-term log-

ging equipment and Onset HOBO was considered as a reliable vendor. A
Function

Building

total of 47 brand-new loggers (types A, B, C, D and E) were procured

Table 1

Case

with an manufacturer-supplied calibration certificate valid throughout

the period of monitoring. The readings supplied through these loggers

3
M. Doctor-Pingel et al. Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14

Fig. 2. Buildings under study. (a). Case1: Golconde Dormitories. (b). Case2: Afsanah Guest House. (c). Case3: Luminosity Apartments. (d). Case4: INTACH Office. (e).
Case5: Blessing House. (f). Case6: Mukuduvidu Residence.

were sufficient for the study, however, in order to keep a rudimentary
check on the recorded values, hand-held equipment were put to use on
a sporadic basis. The hand-held equipment (supplied by Extech and
Fluke) came with manufacturer-supplied calibration certificates too,
which were valid throughout the monitoring period too. We have
performed additional checks to increase the confidence in the readings
measured by HOBO, which have not been included in this paper for the
sake of brevity.
The procurement of loggers was followed by their installation and
launch. The loggers were stuck to the building surfaces using adhesive
Velcro strips and double-sided tapes. The surface temperature sensors
were ensured to be in direct surface contact using industry-supplied
conduction paste and were stuck with an adhesive tape of a colour si-
milar to the monitored surface. Once installed, the loggers were pro-
grammed as per the products’ user manual to launch and record the
readings at hourly intervals. Appendix A (in the supplementary data

Fig. 3. Plans of occupied spaces and passive design strategies studied for (a). Case1. (b). Case2. (c). Case3. (d). Case4. (e). Case5. (f). Case6.

4
M. Doctor-Pingel et al. Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14

Fig. 4. Roof sections with surface temperature (Ts) sensor positions. (a). Case1: Ventilated double roof. (b). Case2: Sloped terracotta and hollow block roofs. (c).
Case3: Shaded, husk-insulated roof. (d). Case4: Traditional terracotta ‘Madras’ roof. (e). Case5: Sloped AAC block roof. (f). Case6: Lime plastered domes and vault.

Table 2
Parameters under study – long-term monitoring.
Parameter Range Accuracy Resolution Drift

Ta/Ts −20–70 °C ± 0.35 °C (For a range of 0–50 °C) 0.03 °C (at 25 °C) 0.1 °C (per year)
RH 0–100% ± 2.5% (For a range of 10–90%) 0.05% < 1% (per year)

Fig. 5. Long-term monitoring equipment. (a). Five types of HOBO data loggers. (b). Side view, showing the round external channels for loggers A, B, and C. (c). Flat-
ended and cylindrical temperature and RH sensor cables.

file) tabulates the name, position, and the monitored parameters of all connections, low battery levels, and tampering. The sporadic hand-held
the 47 loggers placed across the six buildings. These loggers were readings were also taken during these visits.
maintained on a monthly basis. During the maintenance visits, the
logged data was downloaded and the loggers were checked for loose

5
M. Doctor-Pingel et al. Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14

Table 3 readings of these zones were compared against ASHRAE-55 adaptive

Description of hand-held instruments. and IMAC thermal comfort limits calculated for the ambient tempera-
Equipment Parameters Measurement Accuracy Resolution ture of Pondicherry and Auroville for a span of one year and the number
Measured Range of hours breaching the limits were noted. Given that the temperature
difference between the indoor air and surfaces was less than 10 °C and
Extech HT30 Heat Ta 0–50 °C ± 1 °C 0.1 °C
the hand-held Tg readings were within the range of ± 1 °C from Ta, it
Stress Meter Tg 0–80 °C ± 2 °C 0.1 °C
RH 0–100% ± 3% (at 0.1%
was valid to assume Ta as the operative temperature and directly
25 °C) compare against the established ASHRAE and IMAC limits [21,25].
Fluke 561 IR Ts −40 - 550 °C ± 1% (at 0.1 °C ASHRAE-55 adaptive thermal comfort model lays out guidelines
Thermometer 23 °C) pertaining to the indoor temperature and comfort level considering the
human thermal perception and adaptability. The occupants can find a
living space at a fixed temperature thermally comfortable or un-
2.1.1. Analysis – environmental parameters
comfortable depending on their metabolic rate, clothing insulation, Ta,
The monthly readings were downloaded from the loggers using
MRT, Vwind, and RH. Based on thermal comfort surveys and mathe-
HOBOWare software [54]. The data was thereafter processed to check
matical modelling of human perception of temperature, a temperature
for errors and inconsistencies with the following steps:
range was defined to indicate the comfort of a fixed percentage (80% or
90%) of occupants in the zone. IMAC or India Model for Adaptive
1. The raw data was converted to a spreadsheet in MS-Excel.
Comfort replicates the surveys and mathematical modelling as per
2. In order to check for the error in time-series measurement, a true
ASHRAE standards, but for the Indian population. As given below,
hourly time series was created for the duration of data collection
ASHRAE-55 uses equations (1) and (2), while IMAC uses equations (3)
and the corresponding readings were inserted from the table with
and (4) for calculating T80% Acceptability limits:
recorded time-series to the table with the true time-series using the
VLOOKUP function. (Tcomfort )ASHRAE = 0.31 × Tm + 17.80 (1)
3. The true-time series table was then checked for zero and blank va-
lues using MS-Excel ‘filters’. The indicated instances were recorded (T80% Acceptability )ASHRAE = Tcomfort ± 3.50 (2)
as ‘missing’.
4. In order to check if the remaining readings were correct, individual (Tcomfort ) IMAC = 0.54 × Tm + 12.83 (3)
parameters were checked to be in specific ranges using MS-Excel
(T80% Acceptability ) IMAC = Tcomfort ± 4.10 (4)
formulae. For instance, the acceptable ranges for Ta, Ts, and RH
were defined as 0–60 °C, 0–70 °C, and 0–100% respectively. Any Here, Tcomfort denotes the neutral comfortable temperature around
readings beyond their respective ranges were considered ‘erroneous’ which the comfortable temperature range is calculated for both the
and deleted. models. Tm is the 30-day moving average of the outdoor temperature.
5. Every instance of ‘missing’ or ‘erroneous’ data was recorded and is The comfortable range for the two models is given by T80% Acceptability,
presented in appendix B (in the supplementary data file). with a deviation of 3.50 °C and 4.10 °C from the neutral temperature for
the cases of ASHRAE and IMAC respectively (for 80% acceptability).
The outdoor weather data collected from the Automated Weather The hourly Ta values were compared against (T80% Acceptability)ASHRAE
Station (AWS) was cleaned in the same way as the indoor data and and (T80% Acceptability)IMAC – the hours breaching the comfort limit were
converted into a CSV file for a preliminary analysis through Climate tabulated and compared on a case-by-case basis.
Consultant [55]. Outdoor weather analysis helped define January and
June as the coldest and hottest months. Indoor Ta and RH across the
2.2. Indoor Monitoring
most occupied building zone in each building were hourly averaged for
the two chosen months to indicate the two peak scenarios. The Ta or Ts
2.2.1. Long-term
across each of the passive design strategies were averaged similarly.
Long-term monitoring of the buildings was carried out on an hourly
The roof and ceiling Ts was averaged for the hottest month as the
basis using Onset HOBO loggers that could log temperature and RH
temperatures were favourably cool during the winters.
data with parameters as mentioned in Table 2. Fig. 5 shows the five
types of loggers with their external channel slots and external sensor
2.1.2. Calculation – thermal comfort cables.
In order to estimate the annual thermal comfort in the living spaces As shown in Fig. 5(a) and (b), loggers A (U12-012), B (U12-013),
of the six cases, one representative zone was chosen from each case and C (U12-006) shared a similar appearance, with the exception of lux
with the maximum presence of occupants. The cleaned, long-term Ta sensor on A, while loggers D (UX100-011) and E (UX90-001) included

Fig. 6. Monthly averaged variation during the period of study for Pondicherry and Auroville for the highest, lowest average and instantaneous outdoor (a). Ta (b).
RH.

6
M. Doctor-Pingel et al.
Fig. 7. Case 1: Variation of hourly averaged (a). Indoor Ta for the hottest and coldest months. (b). RH for the hottest and coldest months. (c). Ts across double
ventilated roof assembly for the hottest month. (d). Ts across the cavity wall for the hottest and coldest months.
digital displays for the instantaneous Ta, RH, and window operation
timings respectively. Loggers A, B, C, and D measured Ta and Ts with
RH, while logger A alone measured the lux levels, which have not been
included in this paper to maintain relevance to the theme. Logger E
monitored the time of opening and closing of a strategically placed
window for ‘case 5‘. ‘External channel’ were the number of free input
ports in the logger which allowed the plugging-in of additional sensor
cables to measure temperature or RH - Fig. 5(c) shows the Ta, Ts, and
RH sensors. It must be noted that the height of logger placement varied
with each case to best suit the studied building forms and is mentioned
in appendix A (supplementary data).
2.2.2. Hand-held
As mentioned above, the long-term loggers were self-sufficient to
measure the indoor parameters with the prescribed accuracy, as the
industry-supplied calibration certificate was valid throughout the
duration of monitoring. The hand-held measurements provided another
layer of corroboration to ensure correct measurements. These mea-
surements were taken on a sporadic basis during September
2013–August 2014. Table 3 gives a description of the instruments used
for instantaneous measurements.
2.3. Outdoor monitoring
In order to contrast the indoor parameters against the ambient
conditions, the outdoor parameters had to be monitored locally. The
weather file for the nearest available location – Chennai (156 km from
Pondicherry) would not have sufficed for the exact weather data due to
a different urban landscape and geography. Auroville housed four of the
six buildings under study and was in the immediate vicinity of
Pondicherry (15 km away), therefore the AWS located in Auroville, was
an appropriate source for outdoor data collection. In order to create the
7
Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14
CSV file for the local climate, the weather file for Chennai was down-
loaded from the EnergyPlus website [56] and the following variables
were replaced with the data collected from the AWS: Dry Bulb Tem-
perature, Dew Point Temperature, RH, Atmospheric Pressure, Wind
Direction, Wind Speed, GPS Location, and Elevation.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Outdoor
The CSV weather file created for Auroville and Pondicherry as per
the AWS measurements was analysed using Climate Consultant to un-
derstand that if a building operated on the outdoor climatic conditions,
62.5% of the hours would fall in the ‘comfortable’ zone as per ASHRAE
– 55 adaptive comfort limits (for 80% acceptability). The ‘un-
comfortable’ hours demanded the strategies of ‘dehumidification’ and
‘dehumidification with cooling’ to be brought in the comfort limit. As
shown in Fig. 6, the peak outdoor temperatures during the period of
study were highest for the month of May and the lowest for February.
However, based on historical data, the average temperatures were the
lowest and highest for the months of January and June respectively.
Therefore, the two months have been used in the following sections to
demarcate the ‘hottest’ and ‘coldest’ scenarios and averaged data has
been presented for the two months.
The hourly averaged Ta for January ranged from 20.3 °C to 28.3 °C
at 4:00 and 12:00 h respectively, while the instantaneous readings
fluctuated between the peaks of 18.2 °C and 29.3°. For June, the
average Ta range remained in between 27.5 and 36.9 °C, with the lowest
and highest points at 4:00 and 13:00 h respectively; the instantaneous
temperatures went as high as 39.6 °C and as low as 24.6 °C. The RH for
January and June was in the range of 63-8-97.6% and 43.3–76.8%
respectively. The representation of data across these two extreme
M. Doctor-Pingel et al.
Fig. 8. Case 2: Variation of hourly averaged (a). Indoor Ta for the hottest and coldest months. (b). RH for the hottest and coldest months. (c). Ts across terracotta and
hollow block roof assemblies for the hottest month. (d). Ta across pond and sand garden zones for the hottest and coldest months.
months puts the variation of variables into perspective.
3.2. Case 1
3.2.1. Ta and RH
Fig. 7(a) and Fig. 7(b) show the variation of hourly averaged Ta and
RH trends for the hottest and coldest months. As a general trend, the
occupants kept the louvers on the southern façade of the room and
corridor shut during the warmer months of the year and open during
the cooler months. This is why the indoor parameters were closer to the
outdoors for January, whereas the difference in environmental para-
meters was more prominent for June.
3.2.2. Roof temperature
Fig. 7(c) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ts across the ven-
tilated double roof (shown in Fig. 4(a)) for June. The high temperature
difference between the exterior and ceiling surfaces was possible due to
the presence of the ventilated double roof – the air cavity with multiple
openings to the ambience allowed the exchange of air and did not let
the air cavity overheat. Had the cavity been enclosed, the encapsulated
air would have heated, and would eventually have contributed to an
elevated ceiling temperature. As can be seen from the temperature
profile of the roof slab, it was at a significantly cooler than the ‘exterior’
due to the effect of the shade of the concrete shell but did not experi-
ence any thermal time lag. The temperature profile of the ceiling in-
dicated a thermal time lag of 3 h due to the thickness of the ceiling.
Simulation-based studies on a roof with a similar construction typology
in a Hot-Dry climate has shown that the addition of a ventilated zone
between the roof surfaces leads to a heat flux decrease of 50%, while
additional insulation on the exposed surface can lead to a heat flux
decrease of 85% [34].
8
Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14
3.2.3. Passive design strategy: exposed cavity wall
Fig. 7(d) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ts across the west-
facing air cavity wall for the hottest and coldest months of June and
January. The wall was designed in order to shield the building from the
summer sun, while the winter sun did not strike it. Being west-facing,
the exterior cavity wall surface was the warmest during the early eve-
ning hours of June, while keeping the interior surface under 32 °C. The
wall was beyond the reach of the winter sun, thus was warmed or
cooled due to the convection currents.
3.3. Case 2
3.3.1. Ta and RH
Fig. 8(a) and Fig. 8(b) show the variation of hourly averaged Ta and
RH trends for the hottest and coldest months of June and January for
the naturally ventilated dining space in case 2. The open plan of the
building included large fenestration and efficient natural ventilation
strategies, which allowed enhanced air circulation. This resulted in
marginal temperature and RH difference between outdoors and indoors
during January when the windows were kept open. However, similar to
case 1, as the windows were shut during the summers, the outdoor-
indoor temperature and RH differences were more prominent.
3.3.2. Roof temperature
Fig. 8(c) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ts across the ter-
racotta and hollow block roofing strategies (shown in Fig. 4(b)) for the
month of June. The two roofing strategies maintained the ceiling Ts in
the range of 30.8–37.0 °C and 31.5–37.1 °C respectively. The exterior
surface of the ‘hollow block’ roof was cladded with white reflective
tiles, thus was found to be cooler than the red terracotta exterior by
5.2 °C. The presence of air cavities in hollow block allowed it to have a
higher thermal time lag. However, despite the varying thermal time lag
M. Doctor-Pingel et al.
Fig. 9. Case 3: Variation of hourly averaged (a). Indoor Ta for the hottest and coldest months. (b). RH for the hottest and coldest months. (c). Ts across roof assembly
for the hottest month. (d). Ts across the indoor cavity wall for the hottest and coldest months.
for the two cases, the peak ceiling temperatures were found to be si-
milar. The effectiveness of reflective roofs over radiative roofs has been
studied in cooling dominated environment and consistent with the
findings in this paper [33]. Additionally, Madhumathi et al. studied the
Ta under multiple roof typologies in warm-humid South India to find
out that the terracotta clad roof was the most efficient in moderating
the outdoor temperature during typical summer days [38].
3.3.3. Passive design strategy: landscaping
Fig. 8(d) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ta across the in-
door and outdoor zones of the pond and sand garden for June and
January. The landscape influenced the indoor temperatures of the ad-
jacent indoor zones throughout the seasons. The air in the outdoor
zones next to the pond and sand garden was warmer than the indoor
air. However, the difference of temperature of the two zones on two
sides of the dining area contributed to wind currents blowing from the
pond to the garden at 0.1–0.8 m/s, as indicated by hand-held readings.
Previous studies by Yang et al. and Manteghi et al. pointed out that the
water bodies in the immediate microclimate would lead to an elevated
Ta and RH during the early evening hours [43,44]. The findings were
consistent with these results.
3.4. Case 3
3.4.1. Ta and RH
Fig. 9(a) and Fig. 9(b) show the variation of hourly averaged Ta and
RH trends for the hottest and coldest months of June and January for
the occupied zone in case 3. This building was designed with inspira-
tion from the building in case 1, thus the manually operable louvers
worked in a similar fashion. However, unlike case 1, this building did
not have a thermal buffer of the corridor and consequently had a lower
thermal time lag.
9
Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14
3.4.2. Roof temperature
Fig. 9(c) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ts across the in-
sulated roof assembly as shown in Fig. 4(c). The GI enclosure shaded
the entire roof and kept the roof Ts in the range of 30.1–34.5 °C for the
hottest month. The multi-layered roof slab with an insulating layer of
rice husk further added to the resistance and moderated the ceiling in
the range of 30.6–31.9 °C, with a minimal thermal time lag of 1 h. The
low thermal mass can help us infer that despite the high thermal re-
sistance of the used materials, as studied by da Rosa et al., the heat
transfer was not dominated by conduction, thereby rendering the roof
thickness and the choice of materials insignificant [36].
3.4.3. Passive design strategy: indoor cavity wall
Fig. 9(d) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ts across the indoor
cavity wall for June and January. The exterior surface of the cavity wall
was entirely shaded and faced the thermal buffer of an indoor staircase.
Therefore, the Ts variation of the interior and exterior surfaces was
negligible. In January, the interior surface was warmer than the ex-
terior by 0.5 °C during the hottest hour of the day, while in June, the
interior surface was cooler by 0.7 °C, with a negligible time lag for both
the months.
3.5. Case 4
3.5.1. Ta and RH
Fig. 10(a) and Fig. 10(b) show the variation of hourly averaged Ta
and RH trends for the hottest and coldest months of June and January
for the occupied passageway next to the courtyard in case 4. The Ta and
RH for the hottest and the coldest months did not undergo a drastic
diurnal variation despite being in the immediate vicinity of the open
courtyard. The noticeable thermal time lag, in tandem with low diurnal
variation, could also have been due to a moderately enclosed plan of
M. Doctor-Pingel et al.
Fig. 10. Case 4: Variation of hourly averaged (a). Indoor Ta for the hottest and coolest month. (b). RH for the hottest and coolest month. (c). Ts across terracotta roof
assembly for the hottest month. (d). Ta across office and courtyard zones for the hottest and coldest months.
the zone with well-insulated facades and roof assembly.
3.5.2. Roof temperature
Fig. 10(c) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ts for the hottest
month across the terracotta roof assembly, as shown in Fig. 4(d). The
traditional multi-layered ‘terracotta-madras’ roof assembly provided a
temperature difference of 17.5 °C during the hottest hour of the day,
similar to the 15.7 °C difference for the terracotta roof assembly in case
2. The high thermal mass and insulating layers of fired bricks allowed
the heat to be dissipated before reaching the ceiling surface, moderating
it at a near-constant temperature. Madhumathi et al. found the tradi-
tional ‘terracotta-madras’ roof assembly to maintain a warmer indoor
temperature in comparison to a regular terracotta roof, which goes
against the observation in this study [38]. This can be explained by the
fact that the roof used in case 4 had a higher thickness than the one in
the referred study. Additionally, the referred study does not detail on
the plan of the studied building, neither does it mention of the indoor
ventilation strategies – both of which could drastically impact the
measured variable.
3.5.3. Passive design strategy: central courtyard
Fig. 10(d) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ta across the
naturally ventilated central courtyard zone and mixed-mode ventilated
office zone for the months of June and January. The passive design
strategy of central courtyard aided differential heating of the exposed
surface and enhanced the ventilation of the building, as indicated by
0.2–0.8 m/s winds as per the hand-held readings. The courtyard ex-
perienced lower and more comfortable temperatures than the office
zone for 8 months, while it was warmer for the 4 months of summer.
Even during the warmer months, the direct impingement of sun on the
exposed courtyard floor raised the Ta and helped extract stale air out,
10
Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14
while allowing the ingress of cooler ambient air from the fenestration
facing the street. As studied by Ghaffarianhoseini et al., the summer-
time courtyard temperature could have been further reduced by placing
shady plants in the exposed area [46]. The length:breadth ratio of this
courtyard was close to 1:1, and as per the studies of Alhamfdy, could
have performed better with a ratio close to 1:2 [47].
3.6. Case 5
3.6.1. Ta and RH
Fig. 11(a) and Fig. 11(b) show the variation of hourly averaged Ta
and RH trends for the hottest and coldest months of June and January
for the occupied bedroom zone in case 5. The small fenestration and
usage of blinds to curb excess sunlight, coupled with occupant con-
trolled natural ventilation during the morning and evening, allowed the
indoors to be moderated within a range of 1.3 °C and 1.2 °C for June and
January. In addition to ventilation, the shade of trees on the south and
east façades made out of insulated AAC blocks allowed the tempera-
tures to moderated.
3.6.2. Roof temperature
Fig. 11(c) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ts for the sloping
hollow block roof shown in Fig. 4(e) for the month of June. The
‘hollow-block’ roof assembly was the same as used in case 2, the air
cavities reduced the thermal transmittance, while the white reflective
tiles increased the albedo, resulting in reduced absorption of radiation
and lower temperatures. The fact that this roof was sloped against the
angle of the summer sun, contributed to the reduced normal radiation
absorption, in comparison to the flat roof of case 2. This finding is
consistent with the fact that sloped roofs, in comparison to conventional
flat roofs transmit a lower amount of heat [57].
M. Doctor-Pingel et al.
Fig. 11. Case 5: Variation of hourly averaged 10(a). Indoor Ta for the hottest and coldest months. 10(b). RH for the hottest and coldest months. 10(c). Ts across the
roof assembly for the hottest month. 10(d). Ta across the balcony and indoor zone showing the temperature difference due to night flushing for the hottest and coldest
months.
3.6.3. Passive design strategy: night flushing
Fig. 11(d) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ta for the indoor
zone and balcony for June and January. The ‘night-flushing’ of warm
indoor air in the evening and inlet of cool ambient air through the fe-
nestration kept the indoors cooler than the immediate balcony zone,
separated by the window. The peak temperature difference between the
two zones was found to be 4.9 °C for the hottest month, while other
studies in the warm humid climate have shown thermal reductions in
the range of 1.6–3.9 °C [50,51]. The E-type state-logger readings
showed that the average window opening and closing times for the first
three weeks of June were 7.30 and 18:32 h with no instances of the gap
in operation. Whereas, the same timings changed to 7:33 and 20:34 h
for January, with 8 instances when the window was either left open or
closed – i.e., not operated as per the designated pattern.
3.7. Case 6
3.7.1. Ta and RH
Fig. 12(a) and Fig. 12(b) show the variation of hourly averaged Ta
and RH trends for the hottest and coldest months of June and January
for the occupied zone. The Ta in the occupied zone under the vault
made out of fired brick and lime remained moderated with a difference
of 4 °C with the outdoors during the hottest hour of the day. The open
plan of the building, in addition to the form, allowed a constant ingress
of natural air and kept the indoors cool when the outdoors were cool,
while warmed it up during the warmer hours.
3.7.2. Roof temperature
Fig. 12(c) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ts for the month
of June for the two domes and vault, which served as a roof to the living
11
Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14
spaces in case 6, as shown in Fig. 4(f). The exterior surface of the domes
was covered in broken white reflective tiles, yet allowed the tempera-
ture to go as high as 48.3 °C, while the exterior surface of the vault
remained cooler by 4.3 °C during the hottest hour of the day for June.
The vault, with layers of reflective tiles, lime concrete, and fired brick,
provided a low thermal time lag while maintaining a lower ceiling
temperature. The usage of lime in plastering the structures further en-
hanced the albedo and contributed towards lower Ts in comparison to
grey cement plastered surfaces (similar to case 1).
3.7.3. Passive design strategy: building form
Fig. 12(d) shows the variation of hourly averaged Ta highlighting
the air stratification along the vertical axis for Dome 1 for the months of
June and January in 2015. The Ta at the heights H1, H2, and H3,
corresponding to the heights of 84, 271, and 317 cm from the floor level
for the hottest hour of the day for June were 32.4°, 32.7°, and 32.9 °C
respectively. The highest temperature gradient was observed during the
midnight hours of both the months, the highest temperature difference
between H1 and H3 during June and January at 0:00 h was 1.4° and
1.2 °C respectively. A simulation-based study on brick-corbelled domes
in the Mediterranean climate indicated a comparable thermal gradient
of ∼2 °C between the base and the top of the dome [58].
3.8. Comparative inferences
The indoor Ta was found to be lower in the case of buildings with
smaller fenestrations and shade on the southern façade (case 1 and 5)
by 2.2 ± 0.8 °C during the hottest hours in comparison to the buildings
with open plans (case 2 and 6).
The exterior surface of the white roofs (in cases 2, 5, and 6) were
M. Doctor-Pingel et al. Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14

Fig. 12. Case 6: Variation of hourly averaged (a). Indoor Ta for the hottest and coldest months. (b). RH for the hottest and coldest months. (c). Ts across the two
domes and vault for the hottest month. (d). Ta at heights H1, H2, and H3 under the first dome for the hottest and coldest months (of 2015).

Table 4 the hottest summer hour. The temperature difference between the
Annual uncomfortable hours as per ASHRAE-55 and IMAC comfort limits for highest and lowest measured layer of air in the dome (in case 6) was
the six living spaces. highest for the coldest hour of June at 1.5 °C, the same was found to be
Case Annual Uncomfortable Hours 1.2 °C for the coolest hour of June.

ASHRAE-55 IMAC
1 2401 43
2 2790 625
3 1596 16
4 4851 310
5 363 0
6 3358 15
found to be cooler than the traditional terracotta-coloured roofs by
6.8 ± 2.9 °C, while the addition of slope to the roof, as in case 5, re-
duced the temperature further by 1.3 °C. Provision of an external roof
shade (in case 3) was significantly effective in bringing the exterior roof
Ts down by 13.9 ± 4.6 °C in comparison to a traditional roof (in case
4). Concerning the geometry of the roofs, the vaults (in case 6) kept the
ceiling cooler by 3.7 ± 1.2 °C in comparison to the domes during the
hottest times of the year. The interior surface of the outdoor cavity wall
(in case 1) was warmer than the interior surface of the indoor cavity
wall (in case 3) by a minimal 0.7 °C, thus the utility of an indoor cavity
wall for temperature reduction was nominal.
The landscaping of pond and sand around the building (in case 2)
elevated the Ta of the landscaped zones above the outdoor temperature
by 1.5 °C and 0.5 °C during the hottest hours, while facilitating wind
currents across the dining space. The central courtyard zone (in case 4)
was found to be warmer than the occupied office zone by 2.2 °C during
the hottest hour, while during January it was cooler by 1.6 °C. The
‘night-flushing’ strategy (in case 5) kept the indoors cooler – which was
reflected in the 4.9 °C warmer temperature of the balcony zone during
3.9. Adaptive thermal comfort
In order to compare the extent of thermal comfort across the six
living spaces, Table 4 tabulates the uncomfortable hours as per
ASHRAE-55 Adaptive and IMAC limits for 80% acceptability. The IMAC
comfort limits were 1.3 °C wider than the ASHRAE limits and better
suited to the Indian population. The difference between the two com-
fort models has been indicated in multiple previous studies, specifically
in the warm-humid climates [23,25–29]. This is consistent with the fact
that the uncomfortable hours reported by ASHRAE were 93.4% higher
than the hours reported by IMAC in this study. As per ASHRAE, case 4
was most uncomfortable with 56.14% of the 8760 h in the un-
comfortable zone. Whereas, as per IMAC, case 2 was the most un-
comfortable with 7.1% uncomfortable hours. Both models predicted the
zone in case 5 to be the most comfortable.
4. Conclusion
The six naturally ventilated buildings in the ‘warm and humid’ cli-
mate of Pondicherry and Auroville were monitored using long-term
data loggers for a span of one year and analysed for Ta and RH across
the most occupied zones, Ts across the roof and ceiling surfaces, and Ta/
Ts across the passive design strategies. The outdoor environmental
parameters were collected from a weather station (AWS) set up in
Auroville.
This study, for the very first time, provides hourly averaged thermal
readings for eight tropical roofing strategies –ventilated double roof,

12
M. Doctor-Pingel et al.
terracotta cladded roof, hollow block roof with a sloped variant, tra-
ditional ‘madras’ roof, rice-husk-insulated shaded roof, and roof in the
form of lime plastered domes and vaults. This study also documents six
passive design strategies and shows that the passive design strategies of
exposed cavity wall, night flushing, and optimised building form
(domes) were the most effective out of the studied strategies during
tropical summers. Whereas the strategies of central courtyard, land-
scaping of sand garden with pond, led to elevated indoor temperatures.
The strategy of indoor cavity wall was not found well suited to the
climate too. Thermal comfort in the representative living zone for each
case was estimated by comparing long-term Ta readings against the
ASHRAE-55 Adaptive and IMAC temperature limits for 80% accept-
ability. The increasing order of thermal comfort across the six cases as
per ASHRAE – 55 Adaptive limits was 4 < 6 < 2 < 1 < 3 < 5, while
as per IMAC, the order was 2 < 4 < 1 < 3 < 6 < 5.
The supplementary data provided with this paper includes cleaned,
hourly data for all the measured parameters presented in this paper.
This data can be used by researchers to better define the boundary
conditions for various building typologies, roofing strategies and pas-
sive design methods in the tropical, warm-humid climate. Prospective
studies reserve the scope of ‘right here right now’ thermal comfort
surveys coupled with thermal data logging in order to substantiate the
argument of comfort in naturally ventilated spaces.
Acknowledgement
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of
Science and Technology, Government of India (GOI) provided joint
funding for work under the U.S.–India Partnership to Advance Clean
Energy Research (PACE-R) program's “U.S.–India Joint Center for
Building Energy Research and Development” (CBERD) project. The
Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office
of Building Technology, State and Community Programs, of the U.S.
DOE under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 supported the U.S.
CBERD activity. The DST, GOI, administered by Indo-U.S. Science and
Technology Forum, supported the Indian CBERD activity.
This study was facilitated by the constant support of the owners,
managers, and architects of the respective buildings in addition to the
industry partners. The industry partners included 15 U.S. and 14 Indian
third-party partners, who provided equivalent cost share with 8 sup-
porting partners from both the countries.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.01.026.
Abbreviations
ASHRAE American Society for Heating, Refrigerating and Air-con-
ditioning Engineers
IMAC India Model for Adaptive Comfort
PMV Predicted Mean Vote
PPD Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied
AAC Autoclaved Aerated Concrete
INTACH Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage
PY Pondicherry
AV Auroville
AWS Automated Weather Station
CSV Comma Separated Values
Ta Air Temperature
Ts Surface Temperature
Tcomfort Neutral Temperature
T80% Acceptability Temperature for 80% Acceptability
Tm 30-day Running Mean Temperature
Vwind Wind Velocity
13
Building and Environment 151 (2019) 1–14
MRT Mean Radiant Temperature
RH Relative Humidity
GI Galvanised Iron
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