Effectiveness of air-well type courtyards on moderating thermal environments in tropical Chinese Shophouse
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Author(s)
Gamage, Wajishani
Lau, Stephen
Qin, Hao
Gou, Zhonghua
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2017
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In Southeast Asia with tropical climates, Chinese Shophouse (CSH) as a type of vernacular architecture is usually equipped with small intermediate air-well type courtyards, also known as ‘Tianjin’, to moderate the indoor thermal environment. This paper investigates the effectiveness of air-well type courtyards as passive design strategies on moderating indoor thermal environments in two CSHs located in Malacca, Malaysia. The study used a field survey and a CFD simulation. Statistical analyses of indoor air temperature and heat index (HI) measured at different locations of the CSHs show that intermediate spaces next to the ...
View more >In Southeast Asia with tropical climates, Chinese Shophouse (CSH) as a type of vernacular architecture is usually equipped with small intermediate air-well type courtyards, also known as ‘Tianjin’, to moderate the indoor thermal environment. This paper investigates the effectiveness of air-well type courtyards as passive design strategies on moderating indoor thermal environments in two CSHs located in Malacca, Malaysia. The study used a field survey and a CFD simulation. Statistical analyses of indoor air temperature and heat index (HI) measured at different locations of the CSHs show that intermediate spaces next to the air-wells had significantly lower air temperature and HI. Cross ventilation through the openings on the walls and air-wells resulted in a significantly lower normalized mean age of air and higher air velocity. The air-well is a suitable passive design strategy to reduce overheating during daytime and to increase cooling of building structure during night-time. The air-well courtyards should be arranged in alignment with the prevailing wind to maximize the cross ventilation and passive cooling.
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View more >In Southeast Asia with tropical climates, Chinese Shophouse (CSH) as a type of vernacular architecture is usually equipped with small intermediate air-well type courtyards, also known as ‘Tianjin’, to moderate the indoor thermal environment. This paper investigates the effectiveness of air-well type courtyards as passive design strategies on moderating indoor thermal environments in two CSHs located in Malacca, Malaysia. The study used a field survey and a CFD simulation. Statistical analyses of indoor air temperature and heat index (HI) measured at different locations of the CSHs show that intermediate spaces next to the air-wells had significantly lower air temperature and HI. Cross ventilation through the openings on the walls and air-wells resulted in a significantly lower normalized mean age of air and higher air velocity. The air-well is a suitable passive design strategy to reduce overheating during daytime and to increase cooling of building structure during night-time. The air-well courtyards should be arranged in alignment with the prevailing wind to maximize the cross ventilation and passive cooling.
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Journal Title
Architectural Science Review
Volume
60
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2017 Taylor & Francis. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Architectural Science Review on 25 Oct 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00038628.2017.1383230
Subject
Architecture
Architectural science and technology
Building
Design