Thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia

The main purpose of this study was to identify the thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses (CSHs) located in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia with the aim of providing useful passive cooling strategies for modern urban houses. The CSHs are deep-plan brick row hous...

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Main Authors: Kubota, Tetsu, Zakaria, Mohd Azuan, Abe, Seiji, Toe, Doris Hooi Chyee
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/3817/
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/3817/1/AJ%202019%20%28188%29.pdf
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author Kubota, Tetsu
Zakaria, Mohd Azuan
Abe, Seiji
Toe, Doris Hooi Chyee
author_facet Kubota, Tetsu
Zakaria, Mohd Azuan
Abe, Seiji
Toe, Doris Hooi Chyee
author_sort Kubota, Tetsu
building UTHM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The main purpose of this study was to identify the thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses (CSHs) located in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia with the aim of providing useful passive cooling strategies for modern urban houses. The CSHs are deep-plan brick row houses that are located in relatively dense urban areas. First, this paper empirically analyses the effects of courtyard forms on their indoor thermal environments based on the results of field experiments conducted in 16 CSHs in the city of Malacca in 2011 and 2014. Second, this paper investigates the detailed thermal environments of the selected two traditional CSHs with different courtyard types to discuss the thermal functions of courtyards. It was determined that air temperatures in internal courtyards can be explained using the sky view factor, the height of the courtyard and the difference in the heights of the building and walls that form the courtyard. The courtyard forms that characterized their thermal environments were classified into five types and the different types of courtyards performed different functions with respect to improving the indoor thermal comfort in the CSHs. It was suggested that closed, cross ventilated courtyards be embedded to achieve indoor thermal comfort and avoid excessive humidity in hot-humid climates. Meanwhile, it was also recommended that a staggered form courtyard with V-shaped roofs should be designed as a nocturnal cooling source.
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spelling uthm-38172021-11-22T03:54:44Z http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/3817/ Thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia Kubota, Tetsu Zakaria, Mohd Azuan Abe, Seiji Toe, Doris Hooi Chyee TH7005-7699 Heating and ventilation. Air conditioning The main purpose of this study was to identify the thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses (CSHs) located in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia with the aim of providing useful passive cooling strategies for modern urban houses. The CSHs are deep-plan brick row houses that are located in relatively dense urban areas. First, this paper empirically analyses the effects of courtyard forms on their indoor thermal environments based on the results of field experiments conducted in 16 CSHs in the city of Malacca in 2011 and 2014. Second, this paper investigates the detailed thermal environments of the selected two traditional CSHs with different courtyard types to discuss the thermal functions of courtyards. It was determined that air temperatures in internal courtyards can be explained using the sky view factor, the height of the courtyard and the difference in the heights of the building and walls that form the courtyard. The courtyard forms that characterized their thermal environments were classified into five types and the different types of courtyards performed different functions with respect to improving the indoor thermal comfort in the CSHs. It was suggested that closed, cross ventilated courtyards be embedded to achieve indoor thermal comfort and avoid excessive humidity in hot-humid climates. Meanwhile, it was also recommended that a staggered form courtyard with V-shaped roofs should be designed as a nocturnal cooling source. Elsevier 2017 Article PeerReviewed text en http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/3817/1/AJ%202019%20%28188%29.pdf Kubota, Tetsu and Zakaria, Mohd Azuan and Abe, Seiji and Toe, Doris Hooi Chyee (2017) Thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia. Building and Environment, 112 (1). pp. 115-131. ISSN 0360-1323 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.11.005
spellingShingle TH7005-7699 Heating and ventilation. Air conditioning
Kubota, Tetsu
Zakaria, Mohd Azuan
Abe, Seiji
Toe, Doris Hooi Chyee
Thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia
title Thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia
title_full Thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia
title_fullStr Thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed Thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia
title_short Thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional Chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of Malaysia
title_sort thermal functions of internal courtyards in traditional chinese shophouses in the hot-humid climate of malaysia
topic TH7005-7699 Heating and ventilation. Air conditioning
url http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/3817/
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/3817/
http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/3817/1/AJ%202019%20%28188%29.pdf