Ouedraogo, A L S N; Messan, A; Yamegueu, D and Coulibaly, Y (2022) A model for thermal comfort assessment of naturally ventilated housing in the hot and dry tropical climate. International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, 40(2), pp. 183-201. ISSN 23984708
Abstract
Purpose: A major challenge faced by West Africa is to find comfortable housing as a result of climate change and population growth. The climatic adaptation of buildings and their indoor environment become an essential condition for maintaining the health and productivity of the occupants. This paper proposes a model to assess the thermal comfort of naturally ventilated buildings in hot and dry climates in Burkina Faso. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed method is an adaptive model which relies on a combination of parameters such as the operative temperature, the new effective temperature and the basic parameters of thermal comfort. It consists in proposing the zones of thermal comfort on the diagram of the humid air for each climatic region. Findings: A decision-making tool is set up for evaluating the comfort of buildings to better consider the bio-climatic concept through a long-term comfort index. This comfort index is defined and is used to assess the degree of thermal discomfort for various types of housing. Two natural ventilation pilot buildings located in Ouagadougou were considered. The results show that the pilot building whose wall are is made of Earth blocks achieves 26.4% of thermal comfort while the building made of hollow cement block achieves 25.8% of thermal comfort. Originality/value: The decision-making tool proposed in the present study allow building stakeholders to better and easily design, assess and improve the thermal environment of buildings.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | climatic zone; comfort zone; decision-making tool; new effective temperature; operative temperature; thermal comfort |
| Index terms: | Burkina Faso, methodology, decision-making, population, natural ventilation, housing, climate change, West Africa, productivity, building stakeholder, discomfort, adaptation, indoor environment, adaptive model, thermal comfort, comfort, operative, thermal environment |
| Subjects: | physical geography and landforms, health risk and incident analysis, management, research methods, Geography, demography, occupational health and safety management, sociology, decision analysis, environmental engineering, construction type, human factors, user focus, climate science, practitioner, environmental science |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Risk Management, Construction Technology, Sustainability, Design Practice, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
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