Tropical Design

Prelim Examinations

Name: Patricia Erika Argus Score : _______________________

Schedule : Friday- 2:00pm-5:00pm Rating : ______________________

Test I : Essay . Discuss the answers of each question stated below.

1. Discuss the four ( 4) environmental factors affecting thermal comfort. (10 points)

The four environmental factors affecting thermal comfort are air temperature,
radiant temperature, air velocity, and humidity. Air temperature is the temperature of
the air surrounding the body. It is usually given in degrees Celsius (°C). Radiant
temperature is the heat that radiates from a warm object. Radiant heat may be present
if there are heat sources in an environment. Air velocity describes the speed of air
moving across the employee and may help cool them. Humidity, if water is heated and it
evaporates to the surrounding environment, the resulting amount of water in the air will
provide humidity. There is a relative humidity and high humidity.

2. Discuss the three ( 3) personal factors affecting thermal comfort. ( 5 points)

There are only two personal factors affecting thermal comfort, they are the Clothing
insulation and Work rate/metabolic heat. Clothing insulation thermal comfort is very much
dependent on the insulating effect of clothing on the wearer. If clothing does not provide
enough insulation, the wearer may be at risk from cold injuries such as frostbite or hypothermia
in cold conditions. Work rate/metabolic heat, the more physical work we do, the more heat we
produce. The more heat we produce, the more heat needs to be lost so we don't overheat. The
impact of metabolic rate on thermal comfort is critical.
 3. Discuss the Philippine climatic Condition. (10 points)

Here in the Philippines, we only have two seasons: wet and dry. April and May are
supposed to be the hottest months of the year, and they’re mostly right except towards the end
of May, it’s already starting to rain. It gets so hot from April-May that the Philippines has made
those two months the standard break between academic years, which makes sense:
Summertime. November to February, finally the cool season! Still dry though, but it doesn’t
make you want to go bare eagle at night. But mountain areas are mostly cool year round, so
there’s that.
Talking about the monsoons and their characteristics, we have the Northeast monsoon
or the Amihan. The surface air flow over the Philippines in January under the influence of
northeast monsoon, is generally steady. The southwest monsoon is sometimes referred to as
summer monsoon that first sears in the Philippines in early May. It is warm and very humid
which attains intensity in August, and gradually disappears in October. Though the conditions
are slowly changing, more typhoons (as if the Most Typhoon-Stricken country needed more) are
hitting the Philippines and generally, there’s some rain even when it’s meant to be a dry month.

4. Discuss the five (5) causes of Climate. ( 10 points)

Fossil Fuels, gases such as carbon dioxide and methane trap heat in the Earth’s
atmosphere. They are mostly created by humans burning fossil fuels – coal, oil, wood and
natural gas. Climate change activists say humans must stop burning these energy sources, and
countries and companies need to pledge zero-emission targets.
Deforestation, trees are being cut down at an alarming rate, in particular in the Amazon
rainforest. It was traditionally viewed as the lungs of the planet, absorbing carbon dioxide and
releasing oxygen. But figures released in June showed deforestation approached record levels
last year.
Increasing Livestock Farming, a growing demand for meat has led to intensive agriculture
of animals. Cows and sheep produce large amounts of methane when they digest their food,
and this gas adds to the greenhouse effect on the Earth. Furthermore, animals need fields to
graze on, and this leads to deforestation. Fertilisers containing nitrogen
Intensive farming quickly exhausts the naturally occurring nutrients in the soil, farmers
therefore use fertilisers to boost their agricultural output. But fertilisers containing nitrogen
produce nitrous oxide emissions, which increases the warming effect on the Earth’s
atmosphere.
 5. What is Passive Cooling?. ( 10 points)
It is taking into consideration building design which does not have any sophisticated
mechanical equipment in order to induce comfort conditions in building interiors . An example
of this is insulating materials which are integral to the building itself, or the proper
proportioning and disposition of openings in order to induce air movement.
Passive cooling systems were the main design drivers in low energy architecture and
vernacular architecture especially in hot climate regions. Buildings were designed and built to
adapt to local environmental conditions and to use natural elements to provide occupants with
the required thermal comfort around the year.

6. What is Thermal Comfort?. ( 5 points)

Thermal comfort is the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal
environment and is assessed by subjective evaluation. It is maintained when the heat generated
by human metabolism is allowed to dissipate, thus maintaining thermal equilibrium with the
surroundings. Thermal comfort is calculated as a heat transfer energy balance. Heat transfer
through radiation, convection, and conduction are balanced against the occupant’s metabolic
rate.

7. What is Tropical Design?. ( 5 points)

Tropical design is all about achieving thermal comfort through the use of passive design
elements like sunshades, cavity walls, light shelves, overhangs, roof and wall insulation and
even shading from large trees to block the sun. It can look very traditional, ultramodern or even
high-tech. Tropical design is all about tackling urban heat island effect.

Test II : Ilustration
 1. Sketch and explain how sea breeze and land breeze happen

Sea breeze: blowing breeze from sea towards land during the day is called sea breeze.

They are formed during the day time when land and sea both are heated equally by the sun, but
land has very low specific heat capacity as compared to the sea, so it is heated up more quickly,
thus air above land due to heat becomes lighter and rises up. Thus pressure decreases and cold
and humid air above the sea blows towards land.

Land breeze: blowing breeze from land towards the sea is called a land breeze.

They are formed during the night when sea water and land both lose heat, specific heat
capacity of land being very low as compared to that of sea water, land loses heat energy fast
and cools more rapidly as compared to the sea. Sea water being at higher temperature, the air
becomes lighter and rises up. Air from land being at higher pressure. So air from land starts
blowing towards the sea and gives rise to a land breeze.
Prepared by:

Ar. Alvin D. Samodal, CUAP

Instructor