CLIMATE RESPONSIVE DESIGN

CLIMATE RESPONSIVE STRATEGIES FOR TROPICAL

REGION

 Passive design in tropical zones

Tropical climates are generally characterised by hot, wet summers, high levels of humidity and little
change between day and night temperatures. Movement of air is an important strategy for cooling
people down, because the body has more difficulty cooling itself with sweat in humid climates. The
most important passive design strategy in the tropics is to open up houses as much as possible, even
during the heat of the day, to achieve maximum cross ventilation and convective air flow.

The use of lightweight materials for the walls and roof is recommended because they do not store
much heat and shed heat quickly, even with small changes in temperatures. Heavy mass products,
such as brick and block, will re-radiate the heat they have stored during the day, which keeps the
house hot after sunset. When these products are used, it is essential to ensure they are well shaded.
Regardless of the construction materials, windows need to be shaded from the sun and protected from
rain.

 CONSIDERTIONS

 developing a long, thin floor plan with as many rooms as possible having windows or
openings on at least two walls to achieve maximum cross-ventilation
 providing covered external living areas that are positioned to catch the prevailing
breezes in both the wet and dry seasons
 providing a screened ‘sleep out’ style veranda positioned to catch the night-time
summer breezes
 using lightweight materials such as a steel or timber stud frame with metal, timber or
fibre cement claddings
 using lighter, more reflective colours on roofs and walls
 using awnings to shade windows and provide rain protection
 putting high level windows or vents in all rooms, to let out the hot air and draw in
cooler air (it is important that windows or vents can be closed in storms)
 planting tree varieties with a canopy above window level and little foliage at lower
levels to shade the roof, walls and ground around the house, but still allow air flow at
house level (the shade will cool down the air that is drawn into the house)
 using grass and ground covers around the house rather than concrete and sealed
surfaces that will absorb heat and re-radiate it into the house
 positioning the kitchen or part of the living room towards the north-east to capture
winter sun on cooler mornings
  locating septic disposal trenches down wind of living areas, but in a location that will
get sun in the wet season.

5.2.8 In warm- humid climates

Buildings in these climates are typically of lightweight construction, with large openings to
ensure
cross-ventilation and air movement, usually with wide overhanging eaves or other shading
devices.
Direct sunlight is excluded for thermal reasons. The sky is bright, could provide sufficient
light,
but its high luminance would also cause glare.
For this reason, view of the sky should be screened by shading devices or plants. As,
however,
the sky luminance is much less near the horizon than at higher altitude angles, a view of the
sky up
to about 15° from the horizon may be permissible.
The foregoing establishes rather specific requirements for the design of shading devices. The
criteria, far more stringent than just the exclusion of sunlight, can be summarised as follows:
a permit view of sky and ground near the horizon only, within about ±15° (up and down)
b exclude view of bright ground and sunlit blade or louvre surfaces
c daylight is to be reflected from ground and blades up to the ceiling, which itself should be
of a
light colour
Figure 95 shows an arrangement which would satisfy these requirements, whilst ensuring
adequate
ventilation [78].
Nature of the climate

The most prominent characteristics of this climate are the hot, sticky conditions and the
continual
presence of dampness. Air temperature remains moderately high, between 21 and 32°C, with
little variation between day and night. It seldom exceeds normal skin temperature. Humidity
is high during all seasons. Heavy cloud and water vapour in the air act as a filter to direct
solar radiation; it is thus reduced and mostly diffused – but clouds also prevent reradiation
from the earth at night.
Moisture in the air combined with moderate heat and high rainfall is favourable to the growth
of vegetation. The plant cover of the ground reduces reflected radiation, and lessens the
heating up of the ground surface.
Winds are generally of low speed, variable in speed, but almost constant in direction (see
1.3.3).

7.2.2 Physiological objectives

Because the air temperature is continually very near to skin temperature, bodily heat loss to
the air by convection or conduction is negligible. To achieve physical comfort, there must be
some heat dissipation from the body to its environment, at least as much as the metabolic heat
production of the body. In high humidity air the evaporation of a small quantity of moisture
from the body would form a saturated air envelope, effectively preventing any further
evaporation, thus blocking the last resort of heat dissipation. This saturated air envelope can
be removed by air movement. Some degree of comfort can be achieved by encouraging out-
door breezes to pass not only through the building, but across the body surface of the
occupants. This is, in fact, the only way of ameliorating thermal conditions. As there is no
significant cooling down at night, the wall and roof surface temperatures tend to even out and
settle at the same level as the air temperature. This evening out is also promoted by the flow
of outside air through the building.
Section A-
Radiant heat loss from the body will thus be negligible, as the surface temperatures are near
to skin temperature. Radiant heat gain from the sun and sky should, however, be prevented.
7.2.3 From and planning

As movement of air is the only available relief from climatic stress, therefore vital to indoor
comfort, the building will have to be opened up to breezes and orientated to catch whatever
air movement there is. Failure to do this would produce indoor conditions always warmer
than a shaded external space which is open to air movement. In this type of climate buildings
tend to have open elongated plan shapes, with a single row of rooms to allow cross-
ventilation (Figure 152). Such rooms may be accessible from open verandahs or galleries,
which also provide shading. Door and window openings are, or should be, as large as
possible, allowing a free passage of air. Groups of buildings also tend to be spread out.
Extended plans, in a line across the prevailing wind direction, afford low resistance to air
movement and is therefore the ideal solution. If several rows of buildings follow, the air
movement through buildings in the down-wind row will be substantially reduced by the first
row. Plant cover of the ground tends to create a steeper wind gradient than an open surface
(see 1.4.11 and Figure 25), i.e. it restricts the movement of air near the ground, and it is often
necessary to elevate the building on stilts, thereby avoiding the stagnant or slowly moving air
at the ground surface, capturing air movements of a higher velocity (Figure 153). The ground
itself tends to be of the same temperature as the air, thus conduction of heat away from the
building into the ground would not be significant anyway.

Although the intensity of radiation is normally less than in hot-dry regions, it is nevertheless a
significant source of heat, therefore its entry into the building should be prevented. Whereas
in hot dry climates, the radiation being mostly directional, shadow angles can be established
in quite precise terms, here much of the radiation being diffuse, coming from the whole of the
sky hemisphere, the shading devices should provide a greater coverage, obstructing most of
the sky
and not just the location of the sun. As the openings are far larger than in hot-dry climates,
the shading devices will be much larger on both counts. Openness and shading will b the
dominant characteristics of the building.

Shading of all vertical surfaces, of both openings and solid walls will be beneficial. This task
will be much easier, if the building height is kept down. Very often the roof will extend far
beyond the line of walls, with broad overhanging eaves, providing the necessary shading to
both openings and wall surfaces.

From the point of view of solar heat gain, the best arrangement would be to orientate
buildings with the long axes in east-west direction. This may often conflict with the
requirement of orientation for wind. Such a conflict should be subjected to detailed analysis
in every individual case, as there is no generally applicable rule. It must be remembered,
however, that the solar geometry cannot be changed, but skilful use of elements built outside,
e.g. screen walls or even the projecting wing of a building, can change the direction of air
movement. With low rise buildings, where the walls would not get much radiation,
orientation for wind is more advisable. With high rise buildings the opposite is true, and
avoidance of sun should be the decisive factor.

7.2.4 External spaces

The same principles apply to the design of external spaces as to the design of buildings.
Shading and free passage for air movement are the two basic requirements. Trees and
planting can be relied on for shading, as plants carry full foliage all year round. Rarely will a
structure be built just to provide shade to an open space, but pergolas and light framing to be
covered by climbing plants can be provided quite cheaply and they can be very effective.
Open spaces left under buildings elevated on stilts can also be put to use as shaded outdoor
spaces. It is difficult to provide privacy as well as allowing for the passage of air, but various
systems of paling fences and screen walls have been devised which do not permit direct view
but allow the breeze to penetrate. Most of these consist of louvred timber boards or some
overlapping arrangements of boards or planks. Unfortunately, most of these reduce the air
velocity quite substantially.