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Study of Climate Responsive Passive Design Features in Traditional Hill

Architecture of Khyah Village in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India for
Indoor Thermal Comfort

Article  in  Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India) Series A · March 2013

DOI: 10.1007/s40030-013-0033-z

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72
DOI 10.1007/s40030-013-0033-z
CASE STUDY
Study of Climate Responsive Passive Design Features
in Traditional Hill Architecture of Khyah Village in Hamirpur,
Himachal Pradesh, India for Indoor Thermal Comfort
A. Sarkar
Received: 17 March 2013 / Accepted: 17 August 2013 / Published online: 14 September 2013
 The Institution of Engineers (India) 2013
Abstract Vernacular architecture of any settlement is
characterized by architecture and construction methods
developed by the wisdom of the local masons and builders,
often the inhabitants themselves, to provide thermal com-
fort to users in extreme outdoor uncomfortable climatic
conditions, by using locally available building materials
and by adopting construction technology which both were
more responsive to their climatic and geographic condition.
This paper will highlight the climate-responsiveness in the
traditional architecture of Khyah village in Hamirpur dis-
trict of Himachal Pradesh, having sub-tropical climatic
condition. The plan of individual house, the cluster of
houses and the overall settlement itself has been evolved
from a process of understanding the local geo-climatic
conditions which causes discomfort in both cold winter and
hot summer months. Hence, the house plans were kept
compact, thick adobe bricks were used for walls, pitched
roof with attic and roof-covering of slate were employed
and small window openings were provided with heavy
timber shutter—all as a mean to retain indoor heat during
cold winter months and also to prevent excessive heat-loss
and heat-gains. The paper will also attempt to bring out the
adaptive synchronized dynamic interactions between the
various activities of inhabitants and their spatial environ-
ment, as a response to the local climatic conditions, from
the physical survey of this traditional hill settlement.
Keywords Traditional hill architecture

Sub-tropical upland climate

A. Sarkar (&)
Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology,
Hamirpur 177005, Himachal Pradesh, India
e-mail: amitava.sarkar3@gmail.com
Hamirpur-Himachal Pradesh
Bio-climatic design

Indoor thermal comfort
Introduction
From the beginning of the civilization, indigenous and
traditional buildings were designed to create or achieve
comfortable indoor living conditions for the inhabitants
and they used to response to their local climate. In a tra-
ditional vernacular settlement, masons and builders use
limited resources to achieve maximum comfort, and cli-
mate is the major determinant of their shelter design and
form. One can find the solution to optimize the use of
resources in designing present day buildings to achieve the
indoor thermal comfort for the users, by critically evalu-
ating the vernacular architecture of that place in respect to
its geo-climatic locations as reported in various studies
from various climatic locations in India and in other
countries [1–19]. Also, various literatures has highlighted
the climate sensitive passive design features of traditional
architecture and constructions methods [20–25] and they
have been used to formulate passive design guidelines for
present day buildings. In naturally ventilated buildings,
inhabitants often use various adaptive passive-design fea-
tures and employ environmental controls in their houses to
keep the indoor conditions comfortable to live in [26–28].
With the advancement in building and construction
materials and technology, heating and cooling in buildings
have become easy. For modern buildings, there is less
concern with climate and environment in maintaining
comfortable indoor living conditions. The modern build-
ings’ unrealistic faith in artificial systems leads to designs
which disregard the climate and produce buildings that are
both physiologically and psychologically inhospitable as
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60 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72

well as more energy-consuming. With the advancement passive building design features in present day buildings in
achieved in the field of building science and technology, the similar geo-climatic locations to achieve comfortable
every person is increasingly becoming aware of the indoor environment in a sustainable manner.
importance of the energy-efficient building design [29].
India is ranking highest in building energy consumption
among the Asia Pacific Partnership countries [30] also due
Traditional Hill Settlement of Khyah Village,
to our large population and household size. Understanding
Hamirpur
the implication of the situation on energy resources of
India, the Government of India has introduced the Energy
Location and Historical Details
Conservation Building Code (ECBC) in 2007 and made
further addition in the Code in 2008 to provide minimum
Khyah village (31North Latitude, 76.5East Longitude) is
requirements for energy-efficient design and construction
located at a distance of about 10 km from Hamirpur town
of buildings and their systems [29]. It is estimated that the
in Himachal Pradesh with an altitude of 700 m above mean
nationwide mandatory enforcement of the ECBC will yield
sea level. The settlement is spread over an estimated area
annual savings of approximately 1.7 billion kWh [31].
of 2 km2. It is located on foothills of Shivalik mountain
Therefore, under the present situation of energy-supply and
range. It has population of 1,844 people. Of these 964 are
global atmospheric condition, climate and environmental
male and 870 female. The people belong to various caste
conditions must be the most influential parameters in the
and economic statuses. Figure 1 shows the location map of
design of buildings.
the hill settlement.
The best way to understand the architectural character-
From the history of this settlement, it was found that the
istics of a vernacular settlement is by conducting field
Katoch dynasty ruled the area between the Ravi and Satluj
survey of the physical environment. During the physical
Rivers in olden days. It became predominant during the
on-site study of the settlement, individual automatically
period of Hamirchand who ruled from 1700 to 1740 AD.
starts gaining knowledge about the process of shaping their
The present town of Hamirpur got this name from this
built-environment, evolution of the building typologies and
ruler. Raja Sansar Chand ruled the region from 1775 to
their adaptation with change in their activities and other
1823 AD, and then Sikhs till 1846 and after, it became part
psycho-social need [32]. The following study was con-
of British Empire till the independence of the country in
ducted at the Khyah village of Hamirpur district in Hi-
1947. The settlement at Khyah village in Hamirpur (H.P.)
machal Pradesh (H.P.) in the year 2009, located in lower
originated around 100 years back.
Himalayan region with ‘sub-tropical highland’ climate, to
gain knowledge about the traditional hill architecture and
construction method used in shaping their built environ- Climatic Data and Thermal Comfort
ment, indoor and outdoor spaces, evolved through a bio-
climatic design process as a response to the local geo- Hamirpur is having ‘subtropical highland’ climate under
climatic conditions, from the wisdom and experience of the the ‘Köppen climate classification’ [33], with hot summers
local masons and builders, who are often the inhabitants and cold winters. Table 1 shows the average monthly cli-
themselves. Following analysis were done from the study matic data for Khyah village, Hamirpur (H.P.).
of the vernacular hill settlement at Khyah village, Hamir- The settlement receives good amount solar radiation
pur (H.P.): throughout the year with intensity ranging from 3.45 kWh/
m2/day in December to 7.42 kWh/m2/day in May. Figure 2
• The morphological growth pattern of the settlement,
shows the indoor thermal comfort temperature range
• The architectural planning pattern of the settlement as a
(±2 C from the monthly neutral temperature) for the
response to the local conditions,
naturally ventilated buildings located in Khyah, Hamirpur
• Analysis of the architectural design of the individual
(H.P.) calculated as per the equations proposed by Nicol
dwelling units as manifestation of various bio-climatic
and Humphreys [34].
design parameters, such as local climate conditions as
well as the socio-economic-political situations of the
Bio-Climatic Analysis Using Mahoney’s Table
time period, and
• Analysis of the construction methods, use of building
The bio-climatic analysis using the Mahoney’s table [35]
elements and materials, motifs, symbols, etc.
with the climatic data for the location of Khyah village,
The findings will be beneficial to develop the design Hamirpur (H.P.) suggests the following passive design
vocabulary for the present day building designers to apply recommendation for buildings—(1) Buildings should be
and integrate the traditional wisdom and appropriate oriented to north–south direction, with compact courtyard

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72 61

Fig. 1 Location map of the hill settlement at Khyah village, Hamirpur (H.P.)

Table 1 Climatic data for Khyah village, Hamirpur: Monthly Averages

Month Air Relative Daily solar Atmospheric Wind speed, Earth Rainfall,
temperature, humidity, radiation—horizontal, pressure, m/s temperature, mm
C % kWh/m2/day kPa C

January 10.4 51.4 3.57 93.8 3.1 10.4 50.8

February 13.2 48.4 4.61 93.6 3.3 13.8 76.2
March 18.8 39.2 5.71 93.3 3.4 20.8 101.6
April 24.6 31.5 6.81 93.0 3.6 28.2 25.4
May 28.1 35.6 7.42 92.6 4.0 32.3 50.8
June 29.2 50.1 7.12 92.3 4.2 33 101.6
July 27.0 74.2 5.89 92.4 3.5 29.1 279.4
August 25.8 79.1 5.46 92.6 3.0 27.1 228.6
September 24.1 70.9 5.62 93.0 3.0 25.1 101.6
October 20.7 49.8 5.29 93.4 2.8 21.2 0
November 16.4 40.9 4.32 93.7 2.8 16.5 25.4
December 12.1 44.6 3.45 93.9 3.0 11.9 50.8
Annual 20.9 51.3 5.44 93.1 3.3 22.4 1,092.2
Source: http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov; Atmospheric Science Data Centre

type layout of blocks; (2) Buildings should be sufficiently
spaced for breeze penetration in warm months, with pro-
tection from cold and hot winds; (3) Rooms should be
single banked with permanent provision for air-movement;
(4) Openings should not be more than 15–25 % of the floor
area; (5) Openings in north and south walls at body-height
on windward side should have protection; (6) Heavy walls
with high thermal capacity should be used for external and
internal walls; (7) Heavy roofs with over 8 h time-lag
should be used; (8) External space may be utilized for
outdoor sleeping in hot nights; (9) Protection from heavy
rain is necessary; (10) Provision for rain-water drainage to
be done. It is really heartening to mention that the study of
the hill settlement, Khyah village in Hamirpur (H.P.), in the
following paragraphs will show that how optimally the
builders have evolved their shelters and how responsive
they are to the local geo-climatic conditions. The design
recommendations of the Mahoney’s table are also found to
be in consonance with the wisdom of the local inhabitants
and builders of the hill settlement.

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62 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72

Fig. 2 Indoor thermal comfort Indoor thermal comfort temperature range for Naturally ventilated buildings in
temperature range for naturally Khyah, Hamirpur
ventilated houses in Khyah, 35.0
Hamirpur 30.0

Air temperature °C
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Comfort temp high 21.1 22.6 25.7 28.8 30.7 31.3 30.1 29.4 28.5 26.7 24.4 22.0
Monthly mean temp. 10.4 13.2 18.8 24.6 28.1 29.2 27 25.8 24.1 20.7 16.4 12.1
Comfort temp low 17.1 18.6 21.7 24.8 26.7 27.3 26.1 25.4 24.5 22.7 20.4 18.0
Monthlyneutral temp. 19.1 20.6 23.7 26.8 28.7 29.3 28.1 27.4 26.5 24.7 22.4 20.0

Climate Responsiveness of the Hill Settlement
Land-Use and Topography
The settlement at Khyah village in Hamirpur is located on
the foothills of Shivalik mountain range (refer Fig. 1) on a
terrain with 1–50 % slope. Main road passes through the
central part of the village leading to the highway which
connects Khyah village to Hamirpur town which is at a
distance of ten km. The settlement is on one side of the hill.
As rain water doesn’t get settled at top of hill, hence cul-
tivation is not possible there. That is why graze land is at
the top of hill and the cultivated land is either at centre or at
lower part of the hill. The temple, abode of the deity, has
given the top most position in the village i.e. the hill top.
The terrain is hilly therefore there is no scope of rain water
storage. The water flows down the hill and then along with
‘nalah’, moves to the ‘khad’—another tributary of the
‘Beas’ river, which is 500 meter away. There is least
chance of flood in the area due to sloppy terrain, but
landslide may occur in the rainy season.
Morphological Development
The first settlers came to Khyah village in Hamirpur and
settled here at around 100 years ago. The oldest house (see
Fig. 3) stands today in poor condition unlike some others
that have been renovated. First the population was con-
centrated on a small platform about 100 m away from the
road. This area was referred to as ‘Abaadi’. Growth was
concentrated around this hub till 1960. Gradually buildings
began to appear on the side of the road. In 80’s And 90’s
the growth pattern shifted closer to the road (see Fig. 3).
Constructions prior to 1950 exhibit the use of solid mud
walls, adobe blocks, bamboo, another local material. Stone
walls were rarely used. Local stone was used up to plinth
level in constructions dating from 60’s to 70’s. Buildings
built after 1990 have generally used kiln burnt bricks,
cement mortar and RCC. Two temples, panchayat house,
primary health care centre, rain shelter, four shops and
some other public buildings have been built within the last
10-15 years.
Spatial Settlement Pattern
Figures 1 and 3 shows that the houses were linearly
arranged along the main pathway. A few of houses were
connected by sub pathway. Some of the houses are scat-
tered. The pathways are running in both north–south and
east–west direction. Public buildings are at the edge of the
village. These buildings were constructed during the last
15 year and due to have easy approach from the road all the
buildings are located near the road. The main climate
responsive feature of the settlement layout is that all the
houses are arranged in a compact linear manner with open-
yard in front, so that all houses can receive sufficient sun-
light from the solar radiation in winter months. The houses
were mostly oriented towards south-east and south-west
direction mainly from the consideration for solar access in
winter months. The heat gain in summer months and heat-
loss in winter months is also reduced by the use of thick
walls (45–60 cm thick) of high thermal capacity materials
like sun-dried adobe bricks and pitched roof with stone
(slate) covering and attic floor of timber materials.
Cluster Planning
Houses are constructed along a front-yard, connected by
narrow roads and alleys, in such a manner that the front-
yard can receive sun-shine during winter months, where
many activities like cooking, washing can take place
during day-time and also can be used for sleeping during
hot summer nights. In case of ‘Brahmin’ houses, the
front-yards were larger and mainly used for garden,

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72
Fig. 3 The morphology of the settlement and the oldest dwelling at Khyah village, Hamirpur
Fig. 4 Views of some housing cluster of Khyah village, Hamirpur
‘tulsi-manch’ and outdoor sitting and also for drying of
cloths. In other houses, front-yards were also used for
cooking, bathing and drying of crops/grains and for
some other occupational activities like cattle farming,
animal husbandry etc. Toilets were also placed sepa-
rately around open-yard in most of the houses. Sufficient
spacing was given between the clusters so that all houses
can have access to sun-light and to air when required
(see Fig. 4).
The aspect ratio of the houses ranges from 1:1.5 to 1:2.4,
but interestingly in most houses with original construction
the aspect ratio found to be near 1:1.6, which equals the
‘golden proportion’. This is achieved by linear arrangement
of single-banked rooms approached by deep shaded
verandah which allows for sunshine to fall inside the
houses during winter months and during hot-humid sum-
mer months, cool breeze to flow inside by shaded veran-
dah. The shaded verandah and the thick walls also keep the
63
interior cooler and comfortable in hot months by cutting of
the hot summer sun. The houses were of 2 storeys with
height of each floor not more than 2.4 m with an attic floor
below the pitched roof. The exposed surface area to vol-
ume ratio of the houses are also calculated to be in the
region 0.5 to 0.6, which signifies the compactness achieved
in these vernacular houses by the local builders by pro-
viding low floor-height in the buildings. The lower surface-
to-volume ratio also helped the houses to achieve less heat
loss in winter months to clear night sky and less heat gain
in hot summer days.
Construction Methods and Materials
After the complete study of all the vernacular houses of the
hill settlement at Khyah village in Hamirpur (H.P.) it was
found that all the houses have the similar consistent con-
structional details, which may differ at some places like the
123
64
Fig. 5 Views of timber flooring supported on stone pillars in Khyah village, Hamirpur
use of materials, but they have almost the same details
which are as follows:
Foundation
While laying the foundation of house the earth was dug up
till a hard strata is found below the surface of earth. The
digging for search of hard strata can go to the depth of 9
feet or 3 m approximately but ranges between 6 feet to 20
feet. If still no hard surface is found, the surface was made
hard by use of stones. On this hard surface then the foun-
dation surface is laid with rubble stone using mud mortar.
The use of stone for the foundation goes till plinth level
after which adobe brick walls start. The plinth level is
raised up to 50 cm from the surrounding ground level to
give protection to the adobe brick walls against damage
from rain-water.
Walls
The external and internal walls of these houses were made
up of adobe blocks of mud which have a nominal size of
30 9 15 9 10 cm. These adobe blocks are made up of
mud, cow dung, some reinforcing material like hay or jute
and pebbles. The adobe blocks are made in moulds of wood
and after they have been cast they are left in the sun for
drying. The thickness of external wall is 50–60 cm and
internal wall is 30 cm. The adobe blocks, used for wall
construction, are laid in course using mud mortar and
covered with mud-plaster. The mud plaster is made up of
mud, cow dung and use of reinforcing material. Cupboard
for storage were provided in the 50–60 cm thick walls with
a depth of 30 cm. In few houses external walls were con-
structed of locally available sand-stones laid in mud mortar
with mud plaster covering.
Floors
The flooring at plinth level used to be finished with mud,
but due to termite problem and dampness cemented
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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72
flooring, not less than 10 cm thick, was adopted on top of
mud and stone filling. The intermediate floors had com-
posite construction with a depth of 10–15 cm. The flooring
was done with bamboo rafters embed into the side-walls.
On these, split-sheets of bamboo or timber planks were laid
and on top of it further ‘khajoor leaves’ were kept and on
this mud-cow dung mortar (in the ratio 3:1) was put. Then
the flooring was leveled and cow dung paste was applied
on top. This flooring construction also prevents ‘thermal
bridging’ between floors and walls, since the timber
materials used in the construction has good thermal insu-
lating properties. To support this slab usually girders were
provided which was of iron or wood. The pillars supporting
the floor were constructed of locally available hard-wood
or stone (see Fig. 5).
Roof
The pitched roof (slope \30) found in all the houses was
made up of slate-stone and bamboo or replaced by other
kind of timber. To lay the roofing, a grid of bamboo was
made, with the spacing between the members of the grid
varies from 40–50 cm. The horizontal and vertical mem-
bers of the grid were then nailed together and then the grid
was rested upon the side-walls. On top of this grid, the
slates were then nailed. In the interior rooms below this
pitched roof attic floor was constructed of timber and
bamboo, used for storage of grains, etc. The pitched roof
also helps to quickly drain off the rain water during heavy
monsoon shower and the roof-projection also protects the
mud plastered external adobe walls (see Fig. 6).
Openings, Colors and Texture
In the traditional houses openings were found to be small,
only of area 0.8–1.1 m2, occupying not more than 15 % of
the floor area of the rooms. Here, the windows were pro-
vided to fulfill the basic function of ventilation. The small
openings were protected with heavy double-leaf timber
shutter. They cut off the sun-rays from coming inside the
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72
Fig. 6 Views of pitched roof details found in Khyah village, Hamirpur
Fig. 7 Views of shaded verandahs of traditional houses in Khyah village, Hamirpur
room to increase the indoor temperature in hot summer
days and also prevent heat-loss in the nights of cold months
and act as a thermal storage during day-time of winter
months. The doors were also constructed with heavy dou-
ble-leaf timber shutters. However, due to small openings,
the indoor illumination level was found a little darker
during day-time, but this indoor lighting condition was
hardly found to cause any problem to inhabitants because
they could perform their activities outdoor in courtyard
during sunny winter days and in shaded verandah (see
Fig. 7), provided both in ground floor and first floor, during
hot summer days by adapting to the outdoor climatic
conditions. As observed by Nicol [27], passive buildings
need active participants to maintain indoor conditions
comfortable.
Mostly, the external and internal walls of the traditional
houses were painted in sky-blue color. Green, red, grey,
saffron and white colors were also used in painting of
walls. Little roughness was observed on walls finished with
mud-plaster. This roughness used to help in absorbing
more heat during daytime of winter months. The regular
application of mud-plaster on external walls also helps in
65
improving the insulation property of the surface of the
walls.
Typologies of Houses
As in the case of construction methods and materials
used in the traditional houses found in the hill settlement
at Khyah village in Hamirpur (H.P.), it was quite fasci-
nating to see that their design have also demonstrated a
consistency in terms of serving their purpose to provide
thermal comfort to their occupants both in two room
houses and in larger houses with several rooms in all
floors. All the traditional houses were found to be 2
storeys high.
Following table-2 will try to classify/group the types of
houses as per their planning, highlighting their character-
istics and activities, but underlying to them all was the
consistent approach to build their houses in response to the
local geo-climatic conditions and availability of construc-
tion materials to keep the interiors warmer in cool winter
nights and cooler in hot summer days.
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66
Thermal Properties of the Construction Materials
Table 3 shows the thermal properties of the materials
used for construction of vernacular houses and present
day houses in Khyah village in Hamirpur. It can be
seen that the traditional construction method and mate-
rials possess better thermal qualities suitable to
response to the high annual mean temperature range
from cold to hot and humid months characteristic of the
region.
The Mahoney’s table suggested heavy roof with 8 h
time-lag, astonishing to find from Table 3, that the local
builders were able to achieve a time lag of more than 8 h
with the pitched slate-roofing with an attic of 1–2 m height
below in their traditional construction method, solving the
problem of thermal insulation against heat gain and heat
loss and also drainage of water.
Behavioral Adaptation for Thermal Comfort
It has been reported from the field surveys [27, 28] that
the user’s behavioral adaptation is crucial to achieve
indoor thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings.
In this study also the author has observed that the
occupants of these vernacular houses actively carry out
various adaptation measures to maintain their thermal
comfort. Some of these important behavioral adaptations
are (1) clothing adaptation—heavy woolen clothing
(2.0clo) in winter and light clothing (0.5clo) in summer
months; (2) closing of doors and windows in cold winter
months; (3) carry out activity in the outdoor courtyard in
winter days; (4) move to shaded places, use the veran-
dah, balcony during hot summer days; (5) stay away
from heat sources during hot summer days; (6) sleep
outdoor in hot summer nights; and (7) adaptive syn-
chronization of the activities with temporal environmen-
tal conditions—like carrying out heavy works in the
well-lit outdoors in winter months and the same work
was carried out in shade at slow pace during hot summer
months. The design of the dwellings, distribution of its
rooms showed a great degree of connectivity between
indoor-outdoor spaces which were evolved by the activ-
ity pattern of the inhabitants of this traditional settlement
over a period of time by adaptively responding to the
geo-climatic condition of the place. Similar observation
was also reported by Rijal and Yoshida [12]. The sur-
rounding green landscape also contributes in maintaining
the indoor and outdoor conditions comfortable during
summer months by providing shade and in winter months
by allowing the sun-rays to fall on houses by shading
their leaves.
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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72
Present Day Scenario
Construction of the buildings in Khyah village in partic-
ular and in Hamirpur in general has shown a departure
from the traditional wisdom and way of construction in
the last 10–15 years. Tables 2 and 3 has shown that tra-
ditional construction methods were both responsive and
appropriate to maintain indoor environment comfortable
for the local geo-climatic condition. The high thermal
mass of the traditional construction methods and materials
had made it possible for the indoor environment to remain
comfortable for almost throughout the year, even without
using any mechanical means like ceiling fan, heater, by
damping the large daily and annual variation in temper-
ature range. On the contrary, the present construction uses
23 cm thick burnt brick external wall, 11.5 cm thick
internal wall and 15 cm thick RCC roof construction (see
Fig. 8), which do not have enough thermal capacity and
time-lag that is required for the local climatic conditions
to maintain indoor conditions thermally comfortable. In
these recent construction practices, the interior become
cooler in winter and hotter in summer months very
quickly and this increases the more dependence on
mechanical means like ceiling fan, heater, even air-con-
ditioner to maintain indoor condition comfortable in large
part of the year, resulting into more and more energy
consumption leading to increased pressure on non-
renewable energy sources. Also in design of recent houses
less consideration was given regarding the optimum sizes
of room, surface-to-volume ratio, height of rooms, and
size of openings from climatic suitability point of view.
Even their appearance was not as lively as those of the
traditional constructions, which had dynamic relationship
with the surroundings.
Although during the study, the inhabitants informed the
author that they felt more comfortable in the traditional
houses but still they were constructing new houses using
comparatively lighter materials, because of various reasons
like easy availability of recent construction materials,
maintaining social status, non-availability of artisans who
can practice traditional method of construction. What was
quite heartening to discover was that once the owner of
these traditional climate responsive houses, which evolved
from the years of wisdom and practice, who used to take
pride in them, were at present changing their behavior and
attitude towards an architecture which is not in harmony to
the local geo-climatic conditions. Similar kind of trends
was also observed by the other researchers [5, 13, 14].
Because of less demand the art of this traditional con-
struction method are slowly getting vanished.
With advancement in building science, the design and
construction of buildings should be more harmonizing with
surrounding nature, and it is demonstrated everywhere that
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72 67

Table 2 Typology of houses found in Khyah village, Hamirpur

Typical plan form/view of houses Characteristics/activities

Year of construction: 1968

Brahmin house
G ? 1 storey
Ground floor—bed room, living room, store, kitchen
First floor—bed room, kitchen, store, living room
Staircase inside the room
Good sanitation, with proper toilet
The toilets were built recently
The cowshed was nearby
The house had good appearance
The house had predominance of red color
Windows decorated with use of arches
The front yard of the house was used for house hold chores
The verandah as such was not extensively used and balcony above was
used as circulation area.
The Kitchen servers the purpose of cooking, washing utensils and for
bathing by ladies
Men usually use the courtyard for bathing
Guests and visitors were received in the Living Room
Store room served for storing of food grains and house hold items and
also daily use items

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68 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72

Table 2 continued
Typical plan form/view of houses Characteristics/activities

Year of construction: 1965

Brahmin house
G ? 1 storey
Ground floor—bed room, living room, store, kitchen
First floor—bed room, kitchen, store
House plan was two rooms deep
Staircase inside the room
The house had no verandah or balcony
Poor sanitation, no proper toilet
Cowshed at a distance of 50 m from house
The elevation showed predominance of white color with brown windows
and doors
The roof of the pucca portion was used for drying of grains and clothes
The kitchen was used for cooking purpose and for washing of utensils
and bathing by ladies
Guests were received in the pucca portion of the house
Store rooms were used for storage of grains, household items and clothes
etc.
Bedrooms were used for resting and sleeping purpose

Year of construction: 1918 and 1950

Brahmin house
G ? 1 storey
Ground floor—Bed room, store room
First floor—Bed room, kitchen, store
Staircase outside the room
Poor sanitation, no proper toilet
The front yard of the house was used for house hold chores like drying of
grains and washing of clothes and drying
The verandah of the house is extensively used for activities related to the
house
Visitors and the guests were received in the verandah
The store rooms are used for storing of grains and other house hold items

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Table 2 continued
Typical plan form/view of houses
All dimensions in the drawings are in meter
important answers are lying in the vernacular structures
with traditional climate responsive architecture and con-
struction methods. Modern buildings must also be designed
to provide comfortable indoor conditions to inhabitants
without using costly mechanical means wherever possible,
69
Characteristics/activities
Year of construction: 1965
Brahmin house
G ? 1 storey
Ground floor—bed room, store, cow-shed
First floor—bed room, kitchen, store
Staircase outside the room
Poor sanitation, toilet added later
Cowshed has been planned within the house with entry from opposite
side
The house had predominance of yellow and lime color
The interesting elements were the pillars in the verandah
Verandah was used for sitting purposes and for receiving guests
Kitchen of the house was located in the top floor where cooking was
carried out
The front yard of the house was used for carrying household chores and
keeping of animals
by adopting proven climate-sensitive, economical and less
energy consuming construction methods with the materials
which are suitable for that geo-climatic location and also
easily available, if possible locally procurable, without any
negative impact on nature.
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Table 3 A comparative analysis of thermal properties of typical wall and roof construction used in vernacular houses and present-day houses in
Khyah village, Hamirpur
Function Description of the cross- Overall Surface conductance Thermal properties of the layers U-value, Thermal Time-lag,
section of wall and roof thickness W/m2 K) capacity, h
(M) Outdoor, Indoor, Layer-1 Layer-2 Layer-3 kJ/m3 K
W/m2 K W/m2 K
L, m k-value, L, m k-value, L, m k-value,
W/m K W/m K W/m K

Brick wall 0.230 m Thick brick wall 0.26 13.13 8.12 0.016 0 721 0.23 0.84 0.012 0721 2.6 1520 8
(external) with 0.018 m thick
external and 0.012 m
internal cement plaster
Mud wall 0.45 m Thick mud wall 0.5 7.78 8.12 0.025 0.73 0.45 0.81 0.025 0.73 1.47 1700 11
(external) with 0.025 m thick
mud plaster on both
sides
R.C.C. roof 0.2 m Thick concrete 0.212 22.7 9.48 – – 0.2 1.274 0.012 0.721 3.3 2013 4.5
roof with 0.012 m
thick soffit plaster
Slate roof with Two layers of 0.012 m 0.012 22.7 9.46 0.012 1.33 0.008 0.026 0.012 1.33 2.11 1604
attic (air) thick over lapping slate
below stone slabs with
0.008 m thick cavity
Attic (air) 1.5 m thick attic (air) 1.5 – – 1.5 0.026 – – – – 2.17 – 10
below slate below slate roof
roof

U-value = overall transmittance of the section; k-value = thermal conductivity of the layer; L = thickness of the layer; traditional walls are considered sheltered, while
modem walls are assumed to have normal exposure for estimating surface conductance; values in bold—traditional vernacular construction

Fig. 8 Views of recent

constructions in Khyah village,
Hamirpur

Conclusions Traditional houses were functioning like an ‘organism’,

To gain knowledge about the traditional hill architecture
and construction method used in shaping their built envi-
ronment, indoor and outdoor spaces with the available
resources, the study was conducted at the Khyah village of
Hamirpur district in Himachal Pradesh (H.P.) in the year
2009, located in lower Himalayan region with ‘sub-tropical
upland’ climate. The study has shown that the architecture
and construction methods evolved in vernacular settlement
at Khyah, village, Hamirpur (H.P.) was highly climate
responsive. Traditional architecture and construction
methods of the vernacular hill settlement have shown a
very dynamic relationship with local climatic condition.
giving third level of protection to its inhabitants, after their
own skin being the first and clothing being the second level
of protection, against environmental extremities. The
valuable lessons learnt from the vernacular architecture and
construction methods, successful in serving their purpose,
should enrich and enable the architects, planners, urban
designers and administrators to establish a fine balance
between traditional wisdom and modernization. In
acknowledgement of need to support the continuity of
tradition in building design and construction of buildings,
the H.P. Government has introduced amended building
bye-laws [36], making it mandatory to design buildings
with passive design features suitable for that geo-climatic

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A (February–April 2013) 94(1):59–72
location. This type of code of practice will result in pro-
ducing buildings with architecture which will have its
origin in local climate, context and customs.
From previous analysis of the traditional building design
and construction techniques and from the result of bio-cli-
matic analysis using the Mahoney’s table based on local cli-
matic data, following passive design recommendations are
suggested to be incorporated in the present and future building
design and construction in the geo-climatic location of Ha-
mirpur in Himachal Pradesh for indoor thermal-comfort:
• The plotting/layout should be done in such a way so
that longer sides faces towards southern side with
abutting roads;
• Buildings should be oriented with longer axis along
east–west direction, with ‘open space in front’ on
southern side, so that they can receive sunshine during
winter months;
• Buildings should be sufficiently spaced for breeze
penetration in warm months, with protection from cold
wind from northern side;
• The aspect ratios of the houses should be kept near to
1:1.6.
• All habitable rooms should be single banked with
permanent provision for air-movement;
• The exposed surface area to volume ratio of the houses
should be less than 1.
• Area of openings should not be more than 40 % of the
wall area on southern side and 15 % of the wall area on
eastern and northern side, western side should have
zero to least openings;
• Openings in north and south walls at body-height on
windward side should have protection;
• Windows on southern wall should be provided with
overhangs of adequate height and width to provide
shade during summers;
• External walls should be constructed with cavity-wall
construction—112.5 mm thick external brick wall with
outside plaster, 50 mm thick air-cavity, 112.5 mm thick
internal brick wall with internal plaster and finishes (U-
value = 1.7 W/m2 degC, Time-lag = more than 10 h),
internal walls should not be less than 112.5 mm thick;
• Flat roof should be constructed of 240 mm hollow pot
slab, underside rendered, on top 60 mm screed, bitu-
minous asbestos cement felt membrane, 30 mm con-
crete paving slabs on 20 mm bedding (U-
value = 1.36 W/m2 degC, Time-lag = 12 h);
• External front open space should be utilized for outdoor
sleeping in hot nights;
• Permanent provisions should be made for rain-water
drainage and protection from heavy rain is necessary;
• Plinth should be raised and rain-water harvesting
should be done.
71
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