Passive concepts for improvement of thermal and visual comfort in houses in Sri Lanka

Abstract

One of the primary requirements of houses constructed in hot humid climatic conditions such as those prevailing in Sri Lanka is that those should be thermally comfortable for the occupants throughout the day and around the year. Most of the single and two storey houses constructed in Sri Lanka have failed to fulfill this requirement. Therefore, a critical review was undertaken to develop passive concepts that can be incorporated in the future houses. It is shown with a detailed study that three storey houses can perform much better than single and two storey houses not only with respect to thermal comfort, but also with respect to visual comfort, functionality, minimisation of Flash floods, creation of a desirable micro climate etc. It is also shown that the cost of three storey houses can be in the range of that of the single and two storey houses, when the traditional construction materials are used in an efficient manner. The use of these concepts for houses built in the future in Sri Lanka will be extremely important in order to minimise the electrical energy required for operation of houses; this will be quite useful since the electrical energy sources available for Sri Lanka are limited.