Implications of Building Material Choice on Outdoor Microclimate for Sustainable Built Environment

Abstract:

The climatic conditions in a man-made urban environment may differ appreciably from those in the surrounding natural or rural environs.... each urban man-made buildings, roads, parking area, factories......creates around and above it a modified climate with which it interacts [1].Outdoor thermal comfort has gained importance in thermal comfort studies especially in tropical countries. In country like India, culturally the activities are spread both indoors and outdoors. Therefore the need for ambient outdoor environment gains importance. As there are many factors that contribute to outdoor thermal comfort (climatic factors and physical factors), this study aims in analyzing the impact of building material contribution, in an institutional courtyard. In order to understand the thermal contribution of various building materials and to suggest material choice to designers, ENVIMET is used for simulation purpose. The outdoor thermal comfort index employed in this study is PET (Physiological Equivalent Temperature), calibrated using RAYMAN.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volume 650)
• Pages: 82-90
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.650.82
• Online since: July 2015
• Authors: D. Kannamma, A. Meenatchi Sundaram
• Keywords: Building Materials, Envi-Met, Microclimate, PET, RAYMAN

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