Thermal Impacts of the Internal Courtyards in Compound Houses: The Case of Tamale Metropolis

Authors

  • Abdul Manan Dauda Tamale Technical University, Ghana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jaeser.v4i4.3790

Abstract

The research seeks to understand the effects of internal courtyards onthermal comfort conditions in compound houses in Ghana’s TamaleMetropolitan area. Internal courtyards are an integral part of the design ofcompound houses in this location.Their inclusion in building designs is largely as a point of domestic activitysuch as cooking and cleaning and also for social interaction. However, a lotof interchanges in thermal conditions between structures and the outdoorstake place within these internal courtyards. Various design details of thebuilding will engender different thermal responses of the internal courtyard.This paper assesses thermal comfort in compound houses as againstbungalow type houses in the Tamale Metropolis, Ghana by the applicationof the Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied Persons (PPD) and PredictedMean Votes (PMV) model. This prototype compares with the InternationalStandards Organization (ISO) 7730 and American Society of Heating,Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 55(estimated values between 23˚C - 26˚C seen as the allowable temperatures).Ambient indoor conditions (dry bulb temperature and relative humidity)of five (5) buildings each from the two building typologies from wererecorded over a period of ten calendar months. These ambient conditionswere analyzed, consequently generating the Predicted Percentage ofDissatisfied Persons (PPD) and Predicted Mean Votes (PMV) recordings.The investigations uncovered relatively high PPD - PMV recordingsrelating to the Bungalow type buildings while the compound housesattune to the comfort zone. The Actual Mean Votes (AMV) of residentssuggests the two building typologies are all rated comfortable however; thecompound houses are rated above the bungalow type houses.

Keywords:

Compound house; Internal courtyard; Thermal comfort; ASHRAE criterion 55; Tamale metropolis

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How to Cite

Dauda, A. M. (2021). Thermal Impacts of the Internal Courtyards in Compound Houses: The Case of Tamale Metropolis. Journal of Architectural Environment & Structural Engineering Research, 4(4), 48–56. https://doi.org/10.30564/jaeser.v4i4.3790

Issue

Vol. 4 , Iss. 4 (October 2021)

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