PAUL PEACE

DE:2018/1771
CLIMATE AND DESIGN

CLIMATE AND COMFORT

Climate is the long-term pattern of the weather in an area, typically
averaged over a period of 30 years. . Climate of a location develops by its
geographical position on earth, height above sea level, topography and flora.
As a result of all these conditions, different climate regions and thus
different climatic design criteria are established.
Climate is determined mainly by solar heat and glare, prevailing winds and
humidity and rain. In architecture these climatological factors should be so
dealt as to produce a physically and psychologically comfortable structure
for residence, work or recreation.

Climatology, which studies the reactions of plants, living organisms to climatic

conditions such as sunshine, temperature, moisture, relative humidity and
wind, enables us to transfer the results to suit man through an acclimatized
architecture.

Climate conditions are effective in arrangement of building designs,

determination of requirements, selection of equipment and building method,
and accordingly the formation. Different climate systems generate regional
architectural characteristics.

Planning and forming the building in accordance with the regional climatic
data are based on enabling the building to get minimum heat during the hottest
season of the year and lose minimum heat during the coldest season of the
year. Climatic variables and requirements that are effective in design should
be determined in full in order to prevent excessive heating, optimize cold
airflow, use natural cooling methods in hot weather and increase heat gains
(through natural ways), ensure heat storage and proper heat distribution in
cold weather.
 HUMAN THERMAL COMFORT
Comfort is the maintenance of thermal balance between human body and
the environment. the fundamental function of buildings is the protection of
man from the vagaries of inclement weather . The knowledge of nature of
comfort is essential in design with climate with the aim of maintaining
comfort within buildings. There are six major factors exist that affect
thermal comfort;

The Air Temperature: When the temperatures are low, people feel cold and
when they are high people feel hot. Comfort can approximately be achieved
between 160 C and 280 C. thus Nigeria experiences high temperature all the
year round. The highest air temperature is normally in April in the Northern
Nigeria and a little earlier in the South. Minimum temperature on the other
hand decreases northwards with the lowest mean of 21.10 C on the coast
less than 12.80 C in the North.

The mean Radiant Temperature: Comfort can be achieved if the globe

temperature is between 160 C and 280 C and if the differences between
the mean radiant temperature and the dry bulb temperature are less than
50 C

Air Velocity: Air movement is very effective in increasing heat loss from
the body at high temperature when sweating occurs. The air movement
enhances the evaporation of sweat from the body thereby cooling down
the body. Air velocities of up to 0.1 to 1.0m/s are comfortable indoors when
air movement is required but above this level there is discomfort. Out doors
wind speeds of up to 2.0m/s lead to considerable discomfort.

The Relative Humidity: is an important factor in human comfort and

discomfort indices especially in hot climate. When there is low humidity the
air is very dry and sweating is more effective in cooling down the body. On
the other hand, when the humidity is high the air is damp and sweating is no
longer very effective in cooling down the body.
Climatic comfort conditions in a building should be achieved by means of
economic usage of building materials and mechanical systems. In order to
attain this objective, the existing climate conditions should be used as data and
solution should be found in order to utilize the positive effects of the
climate in building form and building shell and eliminate the negative effects
of the climate.

the factors and climatic components that determine the climate as an

integration of the effects of all the meteorological factors on earth in a
long period of time in a certain region can be examined in three main groups:

Sun and Temperature; Sun and therefore heat is one of the most important
climate components because the generally used indicator of climatic
comfort is air temperature and relative humidity. Sun is the most important
energy source in lighting and heating forms and surfaces in architecture.
The sun is not only a heat source but also a significant light source whose
quality varies during the day and according to the seasons. While applying
architectural solutions in order to utilize the sun at the maximum level in
winter, refraction components are needed in order to be protected from
the torrid heat of the sun in summer.

Pressure and Winds; Formation of a strong pressure zone is inevitable in

the direction of the wind. While airflow is needed in hot and humid regions,
shadowing measures should be taken in hot and dry regions. For this reason,
direction of buildings is determined according to the angle of sun rays in
some regions while planning is made according to the dominant wind
directions in summer in some other regions.

Precipitation and Humidity: Precipitation type and amount that varies

according to geographical properties affect architectural design. Since the
amount of precipitation affects humidity rate, some measures may have to
be taken in order to prevent discomfort in the building and its surroundings.
When various climate regions are observed, it is seen that low rate of
humidity is preferred in dry climates whereas it causes discomfort in
tropical climate regions.