SHELTER FOR WARM

HUMID-CLIMATE
 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 the 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
Physiological objectives
Because the air temperature is continually
very near to skin temperature. Bobily 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 prduction 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 the roof surface
temperature tend to even out and settle
at the same level ae the air temperature.
 This evening out is also promoted by
the flow of outside air through the
building.
 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
 Form 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 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
allow cross-ventilation. Such rooms may be accessible
from open verandahs and galleries, which also
provide shading. Door and window openings are, or
should be, as large as possible, allowing a free
passage of air.
 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 opens surface , it restrict the
movement of air near the ground, and it
is often necessary to elevate the
building on stiles, thereby avoiding
the stagnant or slowly moving air at
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 nevertheleness 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 angle 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
device will be much larger on both counts.
Openness and shading will be the dominant
characteristics of the building
shading of all vertical surface, 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 surface.
From the point of view of solar heat gain, the best
arrangements 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.
 EXTERNAL SPACES
 The same principles apply to the design of
external spaces as to the design of buildings
Basic requirements:

 shading
 passage for air movement
Trees and plantings can be relied on for shading , as
plants carry full foliage all year round.
A structure be built just to provide shade to an open
space .
PERGOLAS
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 in
stilts can also be put to use as shaded out –
door spaces.
PALLING FENCES AND SCREEN
WALLS
 It is difficult to provide privacy as well as allowing for the
passage of air , but various systems of PALLING FENCES and
SCREEN WALLS have been devised
 These screen walls and paling walls do not permit direct view but
allow the breeze to penetrate
 Most of these consist of louvered timber boards or some
overlapping arrangements of boards or planks.
 Most of these reduce the air velocity quite substantially.
 The density development in warm humid regions is always
far less than in hot dry climates
For these reasons:

 to allow free movements of air through

buildings and through spaces between
buildings
 to provide privacy by distance , as well and
screens cannot be used for this purpose.
 many activities are carried on out -of- doors
 ROOFS AND WALLS
 As the temperature of the outside air remains almost the same
through out the day and night , a building cannot cool off
sufficiently at night –time to allow the storage of heat during
the day
 The principle of thermal storage cannot be relies on in this
climate .
 It is in fact, advisable to construct buildings of low thermal
capacity materials , using light weight construction.
 By openings up the building to air movements, thus to outsie
conditions the influence of structure upon indoor conditions
is lessened considerably.
THE ROOF
 The roof is practically the only element which ahs a very great
significance.
 It cannot improve the conditions ,it will not produce
temperature cooler than the out door air, but at least , if we
designed it can prevent the indoor temperatures increasing
the out door air temperature, and keep the ceiling temperature
around the same level as the other surfaces.
 This will be achieved by a reflective upper surface, a double
roof construction , with roof space ventilated , a ceiling with
its upper surface highly reflective , and having a good
resistive insulation.
 Both the roof and the ceiling should be of low thermal
capacity.
 Unfortunately, insulation of this quality is still rather
expensive, exceeding the cost limits of most low cost
housing schemes.
 even the cheapest kind of ceiling would produce
substantial improvements.
 It has been reported that in two identical houses ,
roofed with corrugated asbestos cement, a difference
of 14degC in ceiling temperatures has been found:
 in one case, 48degC measured on the underside of
an asbestos cement roof where there was no ceiling;
 in the other case 34degC on the kraft paper ceiling
stretched over the tie beams of the roof trusses.
 As rainfall is rather high in these regions, a pitched roof
will most often be used covered by corrugated iron,
asbestos cement or bright aluminum.
 Alone such a roof would create almost intolerable
conditions indoor, with surface temperature up to 30deg C
higher than air temperature.
 It has been suggested as a performance standard, that the
ceiling temperature should not exceed the air temperature
by more than 4deg C. This could b achieved by a ceiling
of some kind of insulation board with a u-value
around1.5W/m2degC
For solid vertical walls insulation is not
necessary if they are shaped, however if
these walls are exposed to solar radiation,
good insulation will prevent the elevation of
inner surface of inner surface temperature
above the air temperature.
Reflective quantities on the outer surface
of such unshaded walls also be helped.
 Air flow and openings

•Openings must be placed suitably in

relation to the prevailing breezes to
permit air flow through the internal
spaces at body level , i.e. in the ‘living
zone’ (up to 2m).
•Such openings should be large and
fully openable; there is no point in
having windows with fixed glass panes.
The flow of air can be influenced by
topographical features, by the
orientation of the building and the
position of surrounding buildings and
other obstructions.
All these must be considered
carefully, as the openings should be
free from the effect of outside
obstructions.
The air flow should not pass over hot
surfaces (such as asphalt) before
reaching the building.
One of the most difficult
problems which a designer must
attempt to solve is to provide
large openings, but at the same
time give protection from driving
rain, insects, smells and noise,
without radically reducing air
movement.
Ceiling mounted or other electric
fans may be used when there is
little or no breeze, but these will
normally only provide an air
movement(thus assist
evaporative cooling), not induce
the exchange of air.
Ventilation, i.e. the exchange of air, is also
necessary. Without the exchange of air,
both the temperature and the humidity of
room air will increase above the out-door
values , due to the heat and moisture
output of human bodies and of various
human activities (e.g. washingVentilation
and
cooking).

Thus in this climate there is a need for both

a frequent change of air (ventilation) and for
a sensible air movement across the body
surface.
Ventilation will also be necessary to the
space between the roof and ceiling, and
adequate openings must be provided for
this purpose.
Ventilation of the roof space can cause a
ceiling temperature to drop 2 degC, without
any other constructional change.
Care must be taken to avoid air which has
passed through a roof space reaching the
living zone (e.g. discharged onto a
verandah ) as this will be much hotter than
the normal out-door air.
 Traditional shelter
 Two basic types of traditional shelters are found in warm humid
climates.
 Where timber is scarce ,single storey,earth –walled houses are
typical ,with the roof framed in timber ,bamboo or palm frond
and covered with thatch .
 Broad Overhanging eaves shade the walls .
 There are several disadvantages with this form of shelter.
 Firstly, poor or non-existent air movement inside the dwelling .
Secondly ,little benefit may be gained from breezes is prevented
by fence or walled compound.
 Interiors often remain constandly damp.
 Heavy rains are likely to erode the base.
 Timber favoured regions or where earth is
unsuitable for buildings ,the traditional
shelter is often elevated on stilts and
constructed from local timber.
 It may also be constructed by a bamboo
frame with open –weave matting,timber or
split bamboo walls, doors and shutters.

 Thatch or built up layers of leaves cover a bamboo
or timber roof frame , which has broad
overhanging eaves .
 The light weight timber construction holds little
heat and cool adequately at nights and surfaces of
earth walls.
 The elevated position provides better security and
air movement than single strorey shelters.The
thatched roof is an execellent thermal insulator.The
broad eaves shade the walls an openings .It
provides protectin from driving rain and sky glare
and permit the openings to be kept open.
 One weakness is that the thatch is a
convenient breeding ground floor insects and
the entire wood and vegetable matters gives
food and easy passage to termites.
 Both types of shelters perform reasonably
well in their traditionl rural context.
 In densely built up areas ,such as towns ,the
latter type loses its climatic advantages and
the thatched roof creates a serious fire
hazard.
 Warm humid island climates

 It is a variety of warm humid climate .Temperatures are

slightly lower but there is a steady wind of 6-7m/s .
 Orientation and construction of the building to catch
maximum amount of air movement will be more imperative
than in warm humid climate .
 Most of these island lie in the tropical cyclone belt .
 Construction and structure must be designed to withstand
winds upto 70m/s.
 DONE BY
ATHIRA
BENITH
BRISILIA
CHRISTOPHER
COLLWYN
DALIYA
DEEPAN
DHIVYA
GREESHMA