Thermal Performance Assessment of a House in an Informal Settlement
Subject
Climatology
,Academic Year
2'nd Year
,Complexity Level
Beginner
,Intermediate
,Content tags
Cross Ventilation
,Daylighting Strategies
,Materials & Technology
,Shading
,Thermal comfort
,Activity Type
Documentation
,Field Visit
,Activity duration
6-8 hours
,Objective
To observe and study a house in an informal settlement for its thermal performance.
Outcome
Students will understand that the thermal performance of a house depends on the properties of a material and design considerations such as ventilation, shading, day lighting.
Requirements
Book, pen, mobile, laptop
Prerequisites
Identify a slum or low cost housing settlement for visiting.
Procedure
Step 1: Students will visit 2-3 houses in an informal settlement
Step 2: Students will observe and note down the following – materials used in construction, paints used, plastering material, measurements of doors, windows, shading devices,ventilation openings, area around the house, orientation of the built house. Students will also click pictures to support their observations.
Step 3: Draw inferences from the recordings on thermal performance and document in a table for eg:
| Material & Design Findings/Ventilation/Shading/Other observations | Impact as felt or observed subjectively | Impact on thermal performance | Corrective Measure |
| Tin sheet on roof | Gets very hot by 2-3 pm and remains hot till late evening | Causes heat stress | Alternate roofing material |
Step 4: The entire class can design a chart from their observation and inferences.
References
None