A model for thermal comfort assessment of naturally ventilated housing in the hot and dry tropical climate

Abstract

PurposeA 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/approachThe 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.FindingsA 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/valueThe decision-making tool proposed in the present study allow building stakeholders to better and easily design, assess and improve the thermal environment of buildings.

Influence of phase change materials on thermal comfort, greenhouse gas emissions, and potential indoor air quality issues across different climatic regions: A critical review

“…Despite the unfavorable hot desert climate (BWh), which is the major cause of indoor thermal discomfort, the use of energy‐efficient buildings through PCMs will reduce the cooling energy consumption 106 . The impact of efficient ventilation, urban green vegetation cover, and the use of earth brick materials for buildings in most cities with a BWh climate will offer greater benefits by enhancing the cooling or heating performance of PCM‐incorporated buildings 107,108 …”

“…106 The impact of efficient ventilation, urban green vegetation cover, and the use of earth brick materials for buildings in most cities with a BWh climate will offer greater benefits by enhancing the cooling or heating performance of PCM-incorporated buildings. 107,108…”

Comparative Assessment of The Thermal Comfort in Naturally Evolving Buildings in Hot and Dry Sahelian Climate: Case of The City of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso

“…The thermal comfort is the feeling of well-being felt when exposed to an indoor or outdoor environment. The interaction between man and his environment has therefore been highlighted and has long been the subject of numerous studies [1][2][3][4][5]. The construction sector is responsible for more than 50% of global electricity consumption, 32% of energy emissions and 12% of fresh water consumption [6].…”

“…The choice of the corrective factor is made according to the study area, but despite corrective measures to reduce the above difference, this so-called stable PMV method remains questionable [13][14][15]. Thus, a comfort assessment tool was developed for the hot and dry climatic zone, based on the adaptive model at 80% thermal acceptability, and allowed to characterize the outdoor comfort of three climatic regions of Burkina Faso and the comfort of habitats [5], The present study aims to assess the thermal comfort in climate environments of occupants of naturally evolving buildings in hot and dry climates. The objective is to use the basic tools of the thermal sensation of votes (SVT) and compare with the PMVe index and the comfort assessment tool developed for the hot and dry climatic zone of Burkina Faso (CAT_BF) to highlight their ability to predict the thermal comfort.…”

Investigating thermal environment inside the kitchen of air‐conditioned pantry car on Indian Railway using CFD

“…Thermal comfort is determined by considering all these factors together (Alam, Muthiah et al, 2019; Karyono et al, 2015). To calculate “thermal comfort in indoor environments,” numerous studies have described various indices like; “predicted mean vote (PMV)” (Kamar et al, 2019; Zare, Hasheminezhad, Sarebanzadeh et al, 2018), “predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD)” (Kamar et al, 2019; Zare, Hasheminezhad, Sarebanzadeh et al, 2018), “standard effective temperature (SET)” (Zare, Hasheminejad, Shirvan et al, 2018), “new effective temperature (ET*)” (Ouedraogo et al, 2021), and “discomfort index (DI)” (Zare et al, 2020). Currently, a PMV–PPD index is most widely used to assess the atmosphere, especially in indoor built conditions (Cheung et al, 2019; Fabbri, 2013; Kamar et al, 2019; Lau et al, 2019).…”