Tropical Design Module 3: Climatic Design

Tropical Design

This is concerned with countries where discomfort due to heat and humidity are the dominant problems.

Tropical Design is applicable to Tropical and Sub-tropical climates and Equatorial Climates covering the Southeast Asian Countries.

Importance of Climatic Design

Climate has a major effect on building performance and energy consumption.

The process of identifying, understanding and controlling climatic influences at the building site is perhaps the most critical part of building design.

The key objectives of climatic design include:

ü To reduce energy cost of a building

ü To use "natural energy" instead of mechanical system and power

ü To provide comfortable and healthy environment for people

Factors Affecting Climatic Design:

The local micro-climate and site factors will affect the actual environmental conditions of the building.

The important site-related factors should be considered when making the climate analysis:

Topography - elevation, slopes, hills and valleys, ground surface conditions.

Vegetation - height, mass, silhouette, texture, location, growth patterns.

Built forms - nearby buildings, surface conditions.

Major thermal design factors to be studied include:

solar heat gain
conduction heat flow
and ventilation heat flow.

The design variables in architectural expression that are important will include:

Shape - surface-to-volume ratio; orientation; building height.
Building fabric - materials and construction; thermal insulation; surface qualities; shading and sun control.
Fenestration - the size, position and orientation of windows; window glass materials; external and internal shading devices.
Ventilation - air-tightness; outdoor fresh air; cross ventilation and natural ventilation.