Thermal Improvements of the Traditional Houses in Nepal for the Sustainable Building Design

Rijal, Hom Bahadur

doi:10.1618/jhes.15.1

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Some [21] studied the physiological adaptation of the original inhabitants of an area. Some others [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] focused on the building technologies or designs that improve thermal comfort whilst others dealt with the effect of the special thermal environment on occupants' thermal comfort in these areas. The majority of Tibet lies within the 'cold' and the 'severe cold' zones of China [29], which, according to several studies in these climate zones, have a lower comfort temperature range than those in warmer zones, [10,[30][31][32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study of thermal comfort in residential buildings on the Tibetan Plateau, China

Yao

et al. 2017

Building and Environment

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Tibet is located on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in China, the highest and largest plateau in the world. It is in the Cold and Severe Cold zones according to the Chinese climatic division for building design and has unique climatic characteristics and traditional cultural background. In order to obtain a comprehensive understanding about the real indoor thermal environment and the residents' thermal comfort status in Tibet, a field investigation of residential buildings was conducted in the Tibetan Alpine region with on-site environmental parameter measurements and a simultaneous survey using a subjective thermal comfort questionnaire. Based on the analysis of the data collected from the field study, the value of the adaptive coefficient λ in the adaptive thermal comfort model aPMV= PMV 1+λPMV suitable to the Tibet area has been obtained as-0.34; and thus the acceptable thermal comfort temperature range for residential buildings in this area has been produced. The research findings provide comprehensive knowledge and a useful reference for the development of a design and evaluation standard for indoor thermal environments in the Tibet region.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A study of thermal comfort in residential buildings on the Tibetan Plateau, China

Yao

et al. 2017

Building and Environment

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“…Energy use (heating and cooling appliances) is positively related to households' thermal environment and people's thermal comfort-the households of inner-city in Kathmandu holding compact settlements of traditional and modern buildings. As evidence, Rijal et al [33] and Rijal [34] investigated that traditional houses had high-temperature control in summer and winter due to local traditional material, opening size, clothing adjustment, and food culture. Besides, Gautam et al [35] investigated thermal acceptability between local and migrant peoples and identified that local people appear more tolerant and saving behavior than migrants due to physio-psychological expectation.…”

Section: Discussion and Policy Considerations For Gender Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of gender participation in urban household energy technology for sustainability: a case of Kathmandu

et al. 2021

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Sustainability has endured as a global topic in terms of quality of life and energy-saving for an equalized system. Households represent one of the most energy-consuming sectors globally and are expected to increase tremendously in the future. Women have higher responsibility in the household energy use in most societies. However, their participation and impacts have been less prioritized in the sustainability concept regarding energy perspective. In contrast, most development studies reveal that women's participation in managing resources can positively impact women and policy management. However, women's active participation and influences on social, economic, and environmental contexts are mostly ignored in energy-related decisions, disregarding women's productive activities. Thus, this study evaluates the gender role in urban household energy in three contexts of economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainability pillars. This study is exploratory research based on questionnaire survey, interviews, observation, and air quality tests to apprehend appropriate data. The study revealed that the lower-income group uses a larger share of their monthly income for household energy with unclean cooking fuel. It has an impact on low-willingness to participate in new energy technology purchases. The use of electrical appliances and income has a moderate correlation (r = .48). However, Kathmandu urban households are eager to use electric cooking, but urban women have insufficient knowledge, information, and less affordability for new technology. The city's sustainability level is still low (47 scores) from a gender perspective, and it suggests the city needs a long way on the sustainability route. The study concluded that innovative technical interventions and women's financial power are essential, including the subsidy policy to reduce inequality between low and high energy household share variation and elevate gender participation. The gender mainstreaming approach in energy policy can increase women's participation in energy technology to get a clean environment and reduce the nation's financial burden of importing fuel.

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“…Indoor thermal environment investigation is an emerging research area that is closely related to building energy consumption and plays a significant role in creating a comfortable, healthy, and efficient built environment [18]. Over the past decade, a growing trend of studies [19,20] has focused on the thermal environment of housing in temperate regions. For example, Lin et al [18] conducted research on China's cold winter climate and found that the average internal temperature in the bedroom was 12.7 • C, with the lowest acceptable internal temperature without heating at 10 • C. Similarly, Singh et al [21] demonstrated that vernacular buildings in India were significantly uncomfortable in the winter months.…”

Section: Thermal Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Winter Thermal Environment and Thermal Satisfaction of the Post-Disaster Prototype and Vernacular Houses in Nepal

Shrestha,

Uprety,

Pokharel

et al. 2023

Buildings

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Post-disaster housing, constructed on a massive scale, often overlooks the indoor thermal environment, despite being a crucial design factor for residential satisfaction. This study examined the indoor thermal environment in post-Gorkha earthquake-reconstructed prototype and traditional vernacular houses in the Dolakha district of Nepal. It employed a questionnaire survey and measurement of indoor and outdoor temperature in both house types across two study locations: Panipokhari and Jillu, during the coldest winter month. Despite the indoor temperature in both house types falling below the ASHRAE comfort standard, the study found that prototype houses’ nighttime indoor temperatures were 2.1 °C lower in Panipokhari and 1 °C lower in Jillu compared to vernacular houses. This difference is attributed to the use of local building materials with low U-values, substantial thermal mass in vernacular houses, and a low window-to-wall ratio. Occupants expressed dissatisfaction with the thermal environment in prototype houses compared to vernacular ones. By incorporating climate-responsive features seen in vernacular houses, heating energy could have been reduced by approximately 21% in Panipokhari and 10% in Jillu, easing the economic burden on vulnerable households. These findings hold significance for policy-makers, implementers, designers, and other stakeholders involved in post-disaster resettlement housing programs, offering insights for enhancing long-term satisfaction and sustainability in such programs.

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Thermal Improvements of the Traditional Houses in Nepal for the Sustainable Building Design

Cited by 18 publications

References 19 publications

A study of thermal comfort in residential buildings on the Tibetan Plateau, China

A study of thermal comfort in residential buildings on the Tibetan Plateau, China

Role of gender participation in urban household energy technology for sustainability: a case of Kathmandu

Study on the Winter Thermal Environment and Thermal Satisfaction of the Post-Disaster Prototype and Vernacular Houses in Nepal

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