II.

ARCHITECTURE FOR THE TROPICS

A.
Passive design for cooling ventilating
and heating

Passive Solar Heating

Direct Gain

Indirect Gain

Isolated Gain

Passive Cooling

Shading System
c

External Shading

Different kinds of Shading

Internal Shading

Passive Ventilation
CrossVentilation

Stack Ventilation

Thermal Mass

Evaporating Cooling

Solar Chimney

Wind Towers

Advantage of Passive Solar Design:

Disadvantage of Passive Solar Design:

B. Design for Human Comfort

Buildings for People
Old buildings responded to the weather, the economy, and
the people. The relationships and work patterns of the people
lasted longer than their buildings. The process of making
buildings taught young people how to behave and to understand
their world. It was a basic personal skill, so houses seemed like a
part of their own bodies.Much has changed, and old shapes may
no longer work with how people live today. People move, get
different jobs,but expect houses to last. People spend much more
time inside, need more room for belongings, and may need to
lock up their houses.
How do people use buildings? In many city areas people still
spend a lot of time outside and want porches or pavilions that
shade and shelter them from rain. But they also want a good wall
or fence to keep them safe. Many people outside of the biggest
cities still prefer to cook over wood fires. This is not just because
they lack a 'better stove.' Wood may be cheaper, or free. In some
places small fires burn inside to give light and to keep the
mosquitoes out and preserve roof rafters and thatch. Separate
wash and cooking buildings are often used to keep moisture and
heat out of the main building. Showers, laundry areas, and
kitchens can be located where breezes will blow extra moisture
and heat away, or can be separated by breezeways. Locating
them within the same walls may be less costly, but they could
have outside access or be separated from the rest of the building.
Buildings also have meanings. The only way to find out what
they are is to ask the locals. Show them photos of traditional
building details or styles. Ask what they think of them, and how
these kinds of buildings make them feel. Among some people
pinnacles or buttresses added to courtyard walls symbolize
protection because they look like the ancient shrines called 'pillars
of the dead' and the pinnacled mosques.
These sloping pier shapes could be easily used in a new
building. Many peoples had round buildings until concrete block
made them too difficult to build. To some round buildings may feel
more like home, and remind them of their village background.
Others may now prefer rectangular houses because these are the
house types of 'rich people'. People's houses reflect who they are.
They try to make their houses attractive by how they finish doors

and windows or how they paint. Many traditional house

decorations are very beautiful and make life more pleasant for
those who live in them.

Planning for Comfort

Buildings in hot-humid climates need to be different from
those in hot-dry climates. Heavy buildings can moderate the
temperature in dry areas. In places where the climate alternates
between dry and wet seasons, heavy buildings are comfortable in
the dry season, but during the rainy season are damaged by mold
growth caused by condensation. Buildings in humid climates are
also subject to more intense
attack by insects, and
materials rust and decay
much more quickly than in
other environments.
Hot-humid inland areas of
the world have high humidity
and temperatures that rise
and fall slightly every day.

Ventilation:
Catch the breeze: Locate on a hill or raise above the ground,
at a 20- 408 angle to the prevailing breezes.
Don't block the breeze: Spaces buildings out, and add
breezeways in them. Build 18 m downwind from a 3 m height
building to allow breezes in
Make rooms breezy: Each room needs 2 exterior walls, with
many windows or vents, including low openings. Verandahs with
outside stairs obstruct breezes much less than interior halls.
Make outdoor areas breezy: Keep them open to warmer
season breezes, and if possible protected from storm and cool
season winds.
Use vents as well as windows: If necessary use mosquito
netting curtains inside walls of openwork or vent blocks. Windows
or shutters on one or two sides can block breezes on cool
evenings.

 Screen porches or verandahs to allow openings to unscreened

windows in the center of the building.

Left: Wing-walls can direct wind.

ventilate adjacent rooms.

Right: Porches' large openings

Pull breezes in with wing-walls, and shutters or casement

windows that open outward. Although jalousie windows allow
ventilation by keeping rain out while they are open, casements
under an overhang can be helpful to catch breezes. A sturdy
adjustable shutter that pivots vertically in the center of the
window sill may be able to secure a building and catch breezes
too.

SHADING:
Keep sunlight off of building walls: After aiming the building to
catch the breeze, try to face the long sides (with most of the
windows) towards the south and north so the roof overhang
shades walls and windows in the middle of the day.

Roofs shade walls in the middle of the day (left), but let in the lower
afternoon sun (right).

 Shade in the afternoon:

Keep west and east sides short
to let less of the hot, low angle
morning and afternoon sun heat
up walls, especially during the
hottest season. Be sure you are
considering whether the sun is in
the northern or southern sky at
this time of year.
Best directions for buildings with least
need for vertical screens to prevent
overheating.

High ceilings let hot air rise above the people so the room feels
cooler to its occupants.
Cover openings on west and east ends. Use few windows and
doors. For openings use vertical sunscreens, climbing vines, or
shrubs to reduce heat gain on western walls.
Right: Vertical screens, shutters and slit
windows help keep low angle sun out.

Use white or light colors that stay cooler on sunny walls,

roof, and pavement.

PLANTINGS:
Let plants cool you. Tall trees can shade roofs and reduce
temperatures. Trees, shrubs and vines that shade the ground or
buildings in the afternoon reduce the local temperature. Plants
cool by evaporating moisture as well as by shading, like natural
air conditioners. Use trees like palms that are open underneath on
the breezy side.
Don't make sun traps of heavy walls around sunny paved
areas. Locate plantings between walls and other paved areas
when possible.
Use greenwalls for breezy west walls. Vines block breezes
and will grow over openings. A green wall of low-growing plants
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can lower the wall temperature. Plants can be planted into

concrete vent blocks filled with soil after construction. The wall
itself should be waterproof, because the wall may need some
irrigation.
Funnel breezes with building walls or plants: Breezes are
slowed by friction. If buildings must be close together, use them
to aim and speed up the
breeze.

Above: Nearby buildings can

squeeze breezes into a
narrower path speed them up.

INSULATION:
Keep attic heat out by using a vented roof and an insulated
ceiling. If air can flow up inside the roof and out vents above, the
roof stays cooler. Reflective foil draped across the rafters help, or
insulation made of materials that don't soak up humidity.
Keep coolness out of the walls: Use insulation at the base of
masonry walls to stop them being cooled by the soil below, which
causes condensation.
Use light-weight or well-insulated materials so the building
won't feel hot.

C.Climatic zones for buildings

Introduction:
Climatic zones for architectural design are defined by
boundaries where a change in the thermal comfort requirements
should be reflected h changed building elements. Six such zones
have been defined for Nigeria: the Coastal Zone, the Forest Zone,
the T/ansit/onal Zone, the Savannah Zone, the Highland Zone and
the Semi-desert Zone. There are some general design guidelines
common to all these zones. Howevel; site planning, design of
openings, recommended structure and maten as well as need for
provision of outdoor spaces require varying specifications.

Climatic zones for architectural design:

The form of dwellings, the insulation value of roofs and
walls, the orientation, size of windows and several other design
variables are determined by the requirements for thermal
comfort. Requirements for thermal comfort are related directly to
the climate. There is therefore a strong link between the climate
and building design, but this link should not be seen as a direct
one. The same condition of thermal distress or comfort may be
created by various combinations of climatic variables. Climatic
variables vary over distance and time in a continuous manner
resulting in variations in thermal comfort conditions that are also
continuous. It is however possible to determine the appropriate
boundaries where a change in the climate and a change in the
thermal comfort requirements should be reflected- in changed
building elements. These boundaries will effectively define the
climatic zones for architectural design. There are several
definitions of climatic zones for architectural design in Nigeria.
Recent research by the author has identified six zones in Nigeria
(Ref. 18). The following architectural design zones are recogued
for the purposes of our discussion.

Passive house standard in different climate zones

and local conditions
The Passive House Standard, being a quality standard,
dictates no particular methods of construction. Whether solid
construction, wood or composite - architects can design Passive
Houses according to their own preferences. Even manufacturers
of prefabricated houses are offering Passive House designs. The
versatile Passive House Standard is also increasingly being used
in retrofits as well as for non-residential buildings such as schools,
administrative buildings, manufacturing plants and hotels. As the
Passive House concept is based on physical principles, each
building can and should be adapted to its particular
climate.passipedia.org.
With over 37,000 Passive Houses in use worldwide (as of
2012), the Passive House Standard is rapidly spreading all over
the world. As of today, Passive Houses have been built in nearly
all European countries , the United States, Canada, and Japan to
mention but a few. And this number is on the rise! "The Passive
c

House Standard is spreading rapidly around the world. The great

potential of the energy concept is positively assessed, especially
in areas where there is extensive experience in the building of
passive houses. The concept of the passive house can be applied
under different climate conditions and regional construction
techniques" says Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Feist - founder of the
Passivhaus Institut in Germany .
Most experience with Passive Houses is available from
Central Europe. Can Passive Houses also be built in warmer
climates, where hot and possibly humid conditions prevail in
summer? A theoretical study dating from 2009 has considered
this question in great detail for the warmer climates of south-west
Europe. The major finding is that indeed buildings which can
provide high thermal comfort in both winter and summer by solely
heating, cooling and/or dehumidifying the supply air required for
good indoor air quality can be realised here. Some key results
from the study are given on this page. First, it is important to note
that, like in central Europe, space heating is the dominant energy
demand in most climates of the Mediterranean. On a European
level, the annual energy demand for residential space cooling is
still relatively small, but major problems are expected due to the
strongly growing market for air conditioning devices.

D. Design with Nature

There are two different ways people look at the landscape
they build in- as a problem or as a gift. People in dry or cold areas
improve their comfort by buildings and land shaping that control
the climate. The land is a problem to be overcome. Living in the
humid tropical area should teach that nature is a gift. True
comfort comes from breezes which we cannot control, and the
shade of a multitude of plants. The best locations are often
hilltops with shallower or fragile soils. Construction in hot, humid
areas needs to cooperate with nature to use the available
materials, breezes, soils, and plants. People in temperate regions
can prepare for unpleasant weather by removing trees to let the
sun in, stockpiling fuel, and building larger, sealed homes. People
of the drier hot regions prepare by digging fountains and pools,
and building thick house and courtyard walls to keep hot, dusty
winds out. Today people from most parts of the world define
buildings as the spaces they enclose and control. In hot, humid
areas trying to shut out the unpleasant weather does not work
well. Electricity for fans or air conditioning is unreliable and

condensation from humidity causes more problems than the heat.

Opening to the breezes is much more effective. Peoples of hot,
humid regions can define buildings as roofs with spaces blending
from indoors to out through screens instead of walls, allowing
breezes in. A sense of security and enclosure may come more
from people or a compound or courtyard wall than the building
walls themselves.

Above: A corridor defined by a brick screen or jail, by Sri Laurie Baker

Plants
Cities are hotter than the countryside because all the
pavement and walls heat up in the sun. Any shade or green
surfaces you can add help to cool the area. Locations near parks
or planted areas are often much cooler, or on the edges of
streams or lakes. Some people use green roofs to keep buildings
cool- thin layers of lightweight rock added on top of a waterproof
membrane, planted with special
drought tolerant plants. In areas of
heavy rainfall these might need
drainage added under the growing
media. Preserve as many trees as
possible to shade your building and
yard. They can be limbed up to
allow breezes underneath, but will
need protection. The soil beneath
their branches must not have heavy
stacks of materials or trucks parked on it. Ground level cannot be
changed beneath existing trees without damaging them, unless
retaining walls leave most of their roots undisturbed. It is simpler
to leave the ground near trees untouched. New plants can be
added to increase shade but will need time to grow before they
help much. Be careful what new plants you choose. Many
attractive plants that nurseries sell are used all over the world
because they are easy to grow. Some of these are invasive
exotics- plants from other areas that reproduce too vigorously,
squeeze out native species, and are very hard to get rid of.

Water and Soil

An important side benefit of preserving existing plants is
that rain will soak into land. Try to leave some flatter damp spots
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below your buildings and roads. Natural wet areas have special
soils and soak water up and release it slowly into the soil and
streams. When people throughout a region all drain wetlands, the
average temperature in an area can go up, and the amount of
rainfall can decrease.

Lightweight Building Materials

A building should last long and be comfortable. This can be
difficult in the tropics, where termites or ants even emerge
through concrete floors to eat furniture and walls. Paints and
metals exposed to the sun and rain break down quickly. But it
may be as important to find out how comfortable materials will be
in a building.