Thermal performance of brick residential buildings of Dhaka city

Abstract

Bangladelh i, basically a very lradit10nal society in tern" of lj,ing style, living environment, construction methods and m"lerials. The dwe11Lngform that has evolved in this region is the result of a long tradition of pnlcliccd tcchmques a;semblcd by trial, error and experimentation, which became almost intuitive. The basic thermal laws were implemented not knowing the complexities of laws of therolD-physiological properties, bul intuitively. Urban areas are growing [•.,t, life has become complicated and complexity in life style, method, of li,'log, constructions method and material, and use of modem facilities, are being introduced. At the same time Bangladesh is one of thnse unprivileged countries, where most of the people cannot afford luxury in their living sly1c. So in the context of Bangladesh, to achieve lhermal comfort, mechanical means should not be the ,olution, but namral means by appropriate design of buildings that promote thermal comfort through its natuml inleraction with the outdoor environment. This thesis focuses on indoor comfort in urban residential bmldings, in three steps. F<rSI, the urban climatic situation of Dhaka was ~ludied and !he requirements of !hermal comfort were established. The impact of climatic elements on comfort were analysed and it was found that the people in !his area arc accustomed to and comfortable in higher temperatures and humidity levels than people in the west. Second, the patterns of urban development in residential areaS were studied and three types of development patterns were identified in terms of built-form. These are open siles, medium density Sltes, and dense sites. The thermal behaviour pattern of these categories of sites were studied and compared. It was found that dense .,ites perform better than the other two categories of sites, as soiar radiation is the most important guiding element for indoor environment in the context of Dhaka. The air-flow inside the buildings studied wa, found to be insignific"nt, the dim:tions being unpredictable, especially in dense and medium de"-'ity .,ites. The thi~d and conclusive pari is concerned with design strategies for attempting towards ,olutions of the problems In the different density sites.