Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge
Vol. 11 (3), July 2012, pp. 542-547
Comparing the thermal performance of traditional and modern building in the
coastal region of Nagappattinam, Tamil Nadu
R Shanthi Priya1*, M C Sundarraja2 & S Radhakrishnan3
1 &3
Department of Architecture, 2Department of Civil Engineering, T C E, Madurai-625 015, Tamil Nadu
E-mails: [email protected], [email protected]
Received 06.09.11, revised 27.01.12
Climate has a major effect on the performance of the building and its energy consumption. The traditional houses in the
coastal region of Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu in India located in a warm humid zone represent a unique phenomenon with
unique device capable to meet the comfort demand through environmental well adapted design. The traditional house and
modern house in the coastal region of Nagappattinam are examined by comparing the thermal performance within the same
outdoor condition and the climatic region of Nagappattinam. In this paper, a simplified thermal comparison of a traditional
house with a contemporary house have been given by using only data derived from the measurements This paper represents
that the traditional houses in the coastal region of Nagappattinam provided useful indicators of appropriate architectural
design response for future modern buildings.
Keywords: Thermal comfort, Traditional building, Modern building, Environment, Architecture
IPC Int.Cl.8: F16L, E04, E04H 9/16, E04B 1/32, E04C 3/38
Climate has a major effect on the performance of the
building and its energy consumption. Reducing
energy consumption, using natural resources and
providing comfortable, healthier and sustainable
living spaces are the aims of a climatically responsive
sustainable building design1-3. Modern housing has
been criticized for its lack of response to the local
Environment4-6. In many traditional buildings, both
primitive and vernacular, some ingenious solutions to
the architectural problems of resisting extremes of
weather and maintaining comfortable indoor climate
can be seen7-9.The natural material is good for health
and optimization for environmental design of
building10-12. Comparative study reveals the inner
logic from the vernacular precedent13-15. From history
it has been shown that the owner of the traditional
house are changing and rebuilding the design of
traditional houses deserve its ability to maintain
comfortable conditions for longer periods than the
contemporary houses16,17. So, it is essential for
designers of coastal regions in India to take some
sensitive approach to solve this problem with
appropriate formal solution for future environment of
the contemporary design houses.
_________
*Corresponding author
Climate
The climate is warm- humid based on the climatic
zone of India. The main monsoon is North East
monsoon (October to December) contributes about
60% of the total annual rainfall. The second one is the
South west monsoon (June to September) contributes
about 20% of the total annual rainfall. Nagapattinam
has been experiencing the hot climate in summers
with humidity and pleasant climate in winters.
Summers (March to May) are hot with the
temperature hovering around 28 °C to 41°C, as in the
coastal region the cool breeze from the sea provides
reprieve from the extreme hot. Monsoon period (June
to September) offer temperate climate accompanied
with mild to medium rain falls. The place looks
pleasing in monsoons with fresh vegetations and
flowers. Winters (December to February) are pleasant
with moderate climate. During winters the
temperature is in a range of 21°C to 32°C.The
presence of high amount of moisture in the
atmosphere for major part of the year causes thermal
discomfort as there is less evaporation, resulting in
sweating. Temperature vary from 21°C to 41°C,
relative humidity (RH) varies from 60% and will be
above 90% in most of the seasons and wind velocity
varies from 4m/s to 9 m/sec.
PRIYA et al.: THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF TRADITIONAL AND MODERN BUILDINGS
543
Description of the selected traditional house
The study was carried out in a selected traditional
residential building located in the coastal region of
Nagapattinam which is 250 yrs old (Fig. 1). These
houses were built on rectangular plots mostly facing
the sea coastline. The houses were generally oriented
towards East West directions. A floor plan of a typical
vernacular house illustrates with an outside veranda
(the semi open space) in the front of the house, there
are raised platforms on both sides of the semi open
space called as Thinnai. There is a connecting
vestibule from the verandah to the courtyard. These
courtyards are meant for family day-to-day activities
and ceremonial functions around which various other
private spaces like bed rooms, store rooms etc is
functionally arranged. In these houses a dominant axis
is found from the front entrance door connecting the
courtyards and corridors and ends in the rear door.
This axis is mainly to allow the air to enter into the
house which facilitates better air flow throughout the
house. The courtyard consists of the most phenomenal
wind catcher which brings ventilation (air movement)
in to the house. The roof of these houses are made of
country made terracotta tiles laid in 2 to 3 layers
above the wooden rafters and wooden battens. These
roofs are generally sloped, coupled or collar roofs
with the varying heights of 3 m-4 m.
The vernacular house selected for study (Fig. 1) has
a courtyard measuring 1.9 m × 1.7 m. This courtyard
primarily provides light besides used as an open space
for number of other activities like cooking, sleeping,
working, playing, gardening, and worshipping. The
courtyard of this selected house is encircled with high
(3 m high) and thick (450 mm) brick walls with mud
mortar and mud plaster. The average height of the
room is 2.8 m.
Description of the selected Modern building
The modern building is around 28 yrs old and it is
situated at a distance of 100 m from the traditional
house in the coastal region of Nagappattinam. This
building is a one storey (with a ground floor) detached
building and it has two bedrooms with other activity
spaces arranged as shown in (Fig. 2). The building
envelope is reinforced with concrete structure and
brick walls with plaster, reinforced cement concrete
roof slab without any type of insulation. The windows
are single glazed. This is considered typical of
modern house being built in the coastal regions of
Nagappattinam. The brick walls are 9” plastered with
Fig. 1—Identified traditional building selected for Investigation
cement mortar. The average room height of the
building is 3.4 m.
Research methodology
This research is aimed to evaluate existing passivecooling strategies employed in vernacular buildings in
the warm-humid climate of coastal regions in terms
of their energy performance, thermal comfort of
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INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 11, NO. 3, JULY 2012
occupants and cultural acceptance. And also to
classify modern building types in hot humid climates
by their construction and form, and evaluate their
energy performance. To achieve the aforementioned
objectives, relevant data and information will be
collected from existing literature, through direct
in situ observations and by taking measurements of
case-study buildings. Case-study buildings will be
chosen from a range of traditional passively-cooled
and air-conditioned buildings according to criteria
such as size, layout design, ventilation type, current
functionality and the physical condition of the
building. The climatic aspects like temperature (dry
bulb temperature and wet bulb temperature), and
relative humidity will be measured in one traditional
buildings and one modern buildings of coastal regions
from morning 6.00am to 12.00 noon for a period of
two days in various seasons like summer and winter
season. Finally, recommendations will be developed
for applying vernacular architectural strategies to
existing modern buildings, meeting the applicability,
compatibility and actual requirements of people. It is
hoped that the research will yield effective designs
which both increase energy saving and yield
maximum socio-cultural benefits. The data
measurements will be used for analysis and the results
obtained will be compared with ASHRAE standards
to find out the thermal comfort in traditional
buildings. The comparative thermal performance
evaluation was made on the basis of the air
temperature difference between traditional building
and Modern building with the outdoor ambient
temperature. The evaluation of comfort conditions is
based on the analyses of air temperature and relative
humidity values. The data measurements will be used
for analysis and the results obtained will be compared
with ASHRAE standards to find out the thermal
comfort in traditional buildings
Fig. 2—Identified modern building selected for Investigation
Thermal comfort
Thermal comfort is defined by ASHRAE Standard
55-2004 as “the condition of mind that expresses
satisfaction with the thermal environment.” The
thermal environment is those characteristics of the
environment which affect a person's heat loss or gain.
Many studies, summarized in Olgyay (1963) have
defined thermal comfort conditions. Vernon
concluded that 18.94°C (66.1°F) in summer and
16.72°C (62.1°F) in winter were ideal temperatures
with air movement of 50 fpm or less. Bedford stated
PRIYA et al.: THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF TRADITIONAL AND MODERN BUILDINGS
the ideal temperature was 18.16°C (64.7°F) in winter,
and 13.22°C (55.8°F) to 23.16°C (73.7°F) was the
comfort zone. According to Markham, 15.55°C
(60°F) to 24.44°C (76°F) is the ideal range with
relative humidity at noon between 40 to 70%. Brooks
stated that British comfort zone varies between
20.55°C (69°F) and 26.66°C (80°F) with relative
humidity between 30 and 70%. According to
ASHRAE Standard 55-2004, a range of 24°C and
30°C is ideal for thermal comfort.
Position of sensors in traditional and Modern
building
In traditional building the Air temperature and
Relative humidity sensors were fixed outside the
house and inside the room adjacent to the courtyard.
In the modern building the air temperature sensors,
relative humidity sensors, were fixed both inside and
outside the house. Two sets of mini meterological
station were installed in both selected houses to
record the ambient air temperature and relative
humidity of outdoor and indoor spaces. The field
measurements were carried out in both houses during
the same period (March 2010 to June 2010) of the hot
and wet summer season in month of June. Any kind
of mechanical ventilation is not allowed during field
measurement.24, 26, 27
Results and discussion
The field measurements for the summer had been
taken from mid March to June 2010, which is the
predominant summer season of Nagapattinam. From
the observation it was found that the ambient outdoor
temperature has a temperature swing of 16.5°C, i.e.
from 23.5°C to 40°C, while the indoor room
temperature was varying from 24°C to 30°C showing
a diurnal swing of about 6°C only (Fig.3). In the
night, the indoor air temperature is maintained at
around 24°C when the outdoor temperature is around
26°C. The relative humidity indoors varies from 55%
to 100% (Fig. 3).when compared with ASHRAE
standards it was observed that the indoor temperature
falls in the comfort zone. In modern building the
diurnal swing of 14°C (27° C-41°C) was observed
outside and the indoor (room) temperature was
varying from 28°C-36°C showing the diurnal
variation of 8°C (Fig. 4). The maximum air
temperature of the bedroom was about 36°C, The
minimum air temperature of the bedroom was about
28°C. when compared with ASHRAE standards it
545
was observed that the indoor temperature does not fall
in the comfort zone.
From the Fig. 5 comparison of Air Temperature in
traditional and Modern buildings it is observed that
the minimum temperature recorded in the bedroom of
traditional buildings is 25°C and the minimum
temperature recorded in the bedroom of the modern
building 29°C. From the Figure it is observed that the
minimum temperature is increased by 4°C in modern
buildings when compared to the minimum
temperature of the traditional buildings. The
maximum temperature of the bedroom in modern
building is higher than traditional bedroom by 4°C.
Fig. 3 show that the indoor diurnal variation in the
traditional building (6°C) is low in comparison with
the indoor diurnal variation in modern buildings (8°C)
Fig. 4. This is because the traditional building has
thick walls, wide veranda, curved terracotta roof tiles,
courtyards, wind catchers above the courtyards for
natural ventilation. But the modern building has
concrete roof, small sunshades, thin walls, small
openings, etc. The reason for thermal discomfort in
Fig. 3—Air Temperature and Relative Humidity vs Time traditional Buildings
Fig. 4—Air Temperature, RH vs Time - Modern building
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INDIAN J TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, VOL 11, NO. 3, JULY 2012
etc which protect the indoor living space from the
direct solar radiation in traditional building27. From
the result of measurement it can be noted that the
traditional house is comfortable from 1.00 am to
12.00 am and 2.00 pm to 12.00 pm and it lies with in
comfort temperature range.(24°C to 30°C) 27 where
as modern building offers the indoor comfort
condition from 1.00 am to 6.00 am. The time (after
6.00 am) in modern buildings is thermally
uncomfortable. When the outdoor air temperature is
extremely higher than the indoor air temperature of
traditional building and it tends to be lower than the
indoor air temperature of modern house.
Fig. 5—Comparison of air temperature - traditional and modern
buildings
Fig. 6—Bedroom air temperature vs. time - traditional and
modern houses
the modern buildings of coastal region of
Nagappattinam is due to the increase in temperature
and humidity. From (Figs. 3,4,6) it is seen that the
indoor air temperature in the traditional building is
maintained between 24°C - 30 °C during summer
with RH 75% - 60% which falls within the comfort
zone as prescribed by ASHRAE standards. In modern
building (Fig. 4) the indoor room temperature is
maintained between 28°C-36°C with RH of 77%50%. This is when the outdoor temperature is varying
between 25°C to 40°C with RH of 95% and 42%
respectively which does not fall within the comfort
zone as per ASHRAE standards. Therefore, if there is
no fan or Air conditioning systems the traditional
building is more comfortable for longer period than
the modern building within the same outdoor
condition. This phenomenon is probably due to the
higher cross ventilation rate in indoor spaces due to
the provision of windows, wind catchers, courtyards,
Solar Passive features in traditional buildings
The orientation of the building is towards east and
west to bring air movement inside the building which
is required for a warm humid climate. The building
system with optimum window openings and the
presence of wind catchers above the courtyard
induces a continuous air flow inside the building.
The vernacular house has a typical unidirectional
wind-catcher measuring 1.2 m × 2.1 m and this wind
catcher is opening along the windward direction of
the sea, which facilitates to bring cool air inside the
building. The houses of courtyards with wind
catchers, thick external walls, verandas, sloping roofs
are clear examples of eco friendly and climate
responsive architecture. In warm humid coastal region
of Nagapattinam the materials with heat resistance
like mud, mud-brick and brick are used which are
very effective in cooling and heating of internal
spaces. The use of natural and passive means in
vernacular houses of Nagapattinam was very effective
in providing a thermally comfortable space, which
was warm in winter and cool in summer.
Conclusion
It is concluded that the Traditional residential
buildings is thermally comfortable than the Modern
building in the same surroundings. The indoor
temperature is extremely higher in modern buildings
then the indoor temperature of Traditional buildings
with the same outdoor temperature prevailing in both
the buildings. The reason for significant temperature
difference between inside and outside temperatures of
traditional building in summer is because of the
evaporative cooling phenomena that takes place in
mud mortar based traditional houses. Low thermal
conductivity and less thickness of roofing and walls
PRIYA et al.: THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF TRADITIONAL AND MODERN BUILDINGS
of concrete based modern buildings depicts the higher
temperature variations of modern buildings compared
to traditional buildings. Thus it can be concluded that
the solar passive features used in the traditional
buildings can be used in the modern buildings in
future.
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