Khan 2016
Khan 2016
Samra M. Khan
To cite this article: Samra M. Khan (2016): Traditional havelis and sustainable thermal comfort,
International Journal of Environmental Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00207233.2016.1179015
Article views: 40
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International Journal of Environmental Studies, 2016
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00207233.2016.1179015
Pakistan’s modern buildings are dependent on fossil fuel driven air-conditioning systems and are
increasingly unable to adapt to a warming climate. In contrast traditional architecture is more
adaptable to the environment according to principles evolved over many generations. Indigenous
technologies are energy efficient and sustainable. This paper reports observations on the degree of
thermal comfort provided by the traditional haveli with some account of the design techniques.
The results show that traditional havelis work well in modulating the temperature swings, lowering
the ambient temperature and providing the occupants with various comfort zones in the hot sum-
mer. The study concludes that the haveli form is a good choice for Pakistan’s buildings.
*Email: [email protected]
reduce the environmental impact of the built environment and at the same time can
provide adequate housing for the population.
The forms and technologies of vernacular architecture in Pakistan are well adapted to
local climatic conditions and help to mitigate the impacts of a hostile outdoor environment
[10,11]. These are based on principles evolved over many centuries, which are sustainable
using local construction materials, passive cooling and heating systems and renewable
energy sources [12,13]. Fathy consistently uses traditional technologies in his modern
designs which respond well to the challenges of hot climates [14].
The haveli is a traditional urban courtyard house, which generally uses multiple passive
techniques to provide thermal comfort. These are incorporated within the house and enable
the occupants to create adaptive comfort conditions by seasonal migration around the
house, opening and closing windows and doors, thus using stack ventilation and evapora-
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tive cooling [15]. These factors keep the haveli’s energy consumption low, making it a sus-
tainable structure. User analysis of havelis deems them more thermally comfortable than
modern residences [11]. This paper tests the hypothesis that traditional architecture has the
capability to provide thermal comfort levels closer to the adaptive model of thermal com-
fort. It also looks at the design features of the haveli to understand how its passive cooling
mechanisms work.
The concept of thermal comfort in the modern world is defined (ASHRAE standard 55) as
‘the state of mind that expresses satisfaction with the surrounding environment’. The preva-
lent standard of comfort ASHRAE 55–1992R, defines a range of between 19.4 °C /67°F
and 27.77 °C /82°F as ideal for thermal comfort [16]. The conventional way to meet this
threshold is to create a predictable, controlled environment using energy-intensive mechani-
cal equipment. This static model of thermal comfort does not take into account the appropri-
ate use of efficient energy or the use of climate responsive building design strategies [17].
Concerns regarding energy efficiency and indoor air quality have led to the concept of
‘adaptive’ thermal comfort as well as discussions on the revision of ASHRAE standard 55
[18,19]. The adaptive theory suggests that a connection to the outdoors and control over
the immediate environment allows human beings to adapt to a wider range of thermal con-
ditions than is generally considered comfortable [18]. The adaptive method is a beha-
vioural approach, based on the fact that people in daily life are not passive in relation to
their environment, but tend to make themselves (thermally) comfortable through making
adjustments to their clothing, activity and posture. The advantage of variable comfort tem-
perature is that it changes with the outside temperature and hence requires less energy to
achieve than a fixed comfortable temperature.
Nicol et al. conducted field studies in five cities of Pakistan which showed that the com-
fort range was between 20 °C/68°F and 30 °C/86°F and at times subjects reported comfort
at temperatures up to or even exceeding 30 °C, while using a fan [20,21]. These extensive
studies concluded that subjects in Pakistan are adapted to a larger range of temperatures
than subjects in the west [21,22]. Nicol et al. [23] proposed an adaptive algorithm suitable
for determining comfort temperatures (T∞) in Pakistan:
T° is defined as:
There are longer summer spells – May to September – and shorter winters – December to
February. The moderate weather is in October and November and March and April. The
dominant weather of Peshawar is thus the harsh hot-dry season and the equally uncomfort-
able warm-humid season.
The courtyard house is the traditional domestic form used in the Indian sub-continent for
centuries. The typology’s durability can be attributed to its responsiveness to social,
cultural and environmental factors [25,26]. It provides a central protected space that acts
as the centre of the household activities and provides the surrounding rooms with daylight
and ventilation. The courtyard design evolved as a response to site, environmental,
aesthetic and social conditions [27]. It has been found that the courtyard form’s environ-
mental performance is better than that of the pavilion form in terms of efficiency in built
potential, day-lighting and mitigating hot arid climates [28,29]. These factors have
sustained the typology in South Asia, West Asia and the Middle East.
In the Allah Buksh haveli the courtyard is about 30% of the total area, with roof over-
hangs protecting the rooms from mid-day to late afternoon summer direct solar exposure,
while allowing winter sun penetration [10]. The layouts of the rooms facilitate daylight
penetration (figure 2) and stack ventilation through the use of doors and windows which
have multiple-openings [15].
The bioclimatic analysis of this haveli was done in order to assess the thermal comfort
levels of the courtyard, the surrounding bala-khanas /rooms and the teh-khana/basement
(figure 3). The temperatures were monitored via data loggers, placed in four critical areas
of the haveli over a period of three days during June, the hottest month of the year. The
data loggers were placed in the following locations (figure 4, figure 5):
The temperature in these areas was monitored over a period from June 22nd to 24 June
2014. Within the bala-khanas, some of the window shutters remained open during the per-
iod of temperature monitoring and some glass panes of the windows were missing. Since
the haveli lay vacant, the windows were not operated (closed during day and opened at
evening) to achieve thermal comfort as they may have been in an occupied house. During
the time of collection of data (22–24 June) the recorded temperatures of Peshawar ranged
between a low of 29 °C/84.2°F and a high of 44 °C/111.2°F, and the average recorded
Traditional havelis 5
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temperature was 41 °C/105.8°F [30]. The data collected from the haveli were analysed for
the individual spaces and then the comparison was made between internal and external
spaces and their temperature differences.
The thermal monitoring also shows that the temperature inside the courtyard and the
ground floor (bala-khanas) and the basement remained lower during the day and higher at
night than the outside temperature. It would be pertinent to compare these results with the
comfort temperature as predicted by ASHRAE and the air temperature inside the house at
5′ high. The air temperature inside the house at 5′ high was always higher than the thermal
comfort temperature as defined by ASHRAE standard. When the outside air temperature
was high, the air temperature inside the house is much closer to the comfort temperature
established by ASHRAE than when the outside air temperature is low. The diurnal temper-
ature swing inside all four areas is less than outside the haveli (figure 7). For the external
diurnal temperature swing of 15.1° the temperature swing in the north bala-khana was
3.9°, in the south bala-khana it was 3.3°, in the basement it was 2.9°, while the courtyard
showed a temperature variation of 5.2 °.
Traditional havelis 7
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An important factor of the haveli design is the high thermal mass of the external walls,
which mitigate the external air temperature and keep air temperature inside the house
lower. The greatest thermal mass of the haveli is on the south side (where two adjoining
havelis are placed back to back) thus explaining most of the flattening of high day/night
temperature swings of the south bala-khana. The high thermal mass of the basement
helped to create lower and stable thermal conditions inside this space. The diurnal shift in
temperature of the north bala-khana was also reduced by high thermal mass, which
8 S. M. Khan
35 N balakhana
30
S balakhana
25
20 Basement
15 Outside
10
5
0
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6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 2:00 4:00
AM AM AM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM AM AM
15.1 14.7
13.4
5.1 5.2 5
3.9 3.8 3.4
3.3 2.8 3.1 2.9 3
2.7
Figure 7. Maximum difference between day time and night time external/internal temperatures, in °C. June
2014.
Source: Author.
absorbed heat during the day and released it at night, flattening the temperature range.
High thermal mass construction enabled the haveli to separate internal temperature from
external temperature so that drastic changes in the external environment were not reflected
inside the house.
The other temperature modifying factor is the raised rooms around the courtyard which
use stack ventilation through strategically placed and user operable openings (windows
and ventilators) near the floor and at the ceiling levels [12]. The bala-khanas and the
courtyard also displayed comfortable night time thermal conditions owing to natural
airflow and passive ventilation strategies employed in the haveli.
Traditional havelis 9
and so be a very effective way of cooling [26]. In the context of the haveli, the relief pro-
vided by the rain (4 h) extended well into the night (figure 8).
In light of the data recorded, the wet courtyard floor has the ability to effectively reduce
temperatures and bring them down to the comfort level specified by ASHRAE (under
27.77 °C). As per Nicol et al. [22], the ASHRAE thermal comfort standards seem to be
very low for the average summer temperatures of Pakistan. But in the context of the court-
yard of the haveli it can be said (based on the field study) that the passive measures
employed in the courtyard helped to lower the summer temperatures and bring them well
within international standards of comfort. At the same time the comfortable increase in
humidity helped mitigate the dry summer heat further. figure 8 also shows that while the
courtyard achieves a much cooler temperature owing to evaporative cooling, the bala-
khanas will have lower but stable temperatures, which are higher than those of the court-
yard. Here, an important factor of spatial migration may be considered. Traditional havelis
offer a variety of comfortable spaces at different parts of the day and seasonally. These are
thus used according to the time of the year or the time of the day for various activities.
The courtyard is one such space, which through evaporative cooling (either through rain
or poured water) provides the most comfortable space during late summer afternoons and
early evenings. It is therefore the most likely place for the family to spend their evenings.
35
30
Temperature in °C
25
20 S balakhana
N balakhana
15
Courtyard
10
0
8:00 10:00 1:00 2:00 3:30 4:00 5:00 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:0010:30
AM AM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM PM
The monitored temperatures may also be explored in terms of the design of the haveli.
High thermal mass of the Allah Buksh haveli helped to create more stable thermal condi-
tions inside the house as well as reducing the diurnal shift in temperature. High thermal
mass construction (maximum on the SE, S and SW sides) enabled the haveli to separate
internal temperature from external temperature so that drastic changes in the external envi-
ronment were not reflected inside the house.
4. Conclusions
The on-site measurements showed that the internal air temperature in the living zones of the
haveli was higher than the comfort temperatures recommended by ASHRAE, but within the
comfort zone proposed by Nicol & Roaf [23]. The on-site data showed that both of
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the bala-khanas have high thermal temperatures (29.8 °C/85.64°F–33.6 °C/92.48°F) by the
current standards of thermal comfort. But, the evidence from 25 June 2015 (field study) sug-
gests that there is more to vernacular passive cooling methods than meets the eye. Of critical
importance is the active participation of the occupant of the house; by spatial migration, in
adjusting (shutting or opening) of windows and doors to reduce temperatures and wetting
the courtyard floor to induce evaporative cooling in the hot dry season. This domestic pattern
includes retiring to the basements during summer afternoons. The basement offers between
27.1 °C/80.78°F and 28.6 °C/83.48°F (10:00–6:00 pm), and these temperature may be
mitigated by a few more degrees by evaporative cooling from the well. The temperatures
here may fall below the most stringent of international static model standards of comfort. In
line with the adaptive model of thermal comfort, the comfort temperature range in the
bala-khanas (29.8 °C/85.64°F–33.6 °C/92.48°F) is based on culture and the phenomenon of
acclimatization. If there is also use of fans in the haveli, these temperatures are well within
the acceptable comfort range as noted by Nicol [20].
These results carry implications for the means by which thermal environments are con-
trolled in building designs, and the amounts of energy required for the production of habit-
able indoor climates. The static models (ASHRAE) have led to indoor climate standards
which scarcely recognise the outdoor climatic context. Such models contribute to an
increased reliance on mechanical cooling. In contrast, the adaptive model leads to making
use of vernacular architecture to the fullest extent possible, to benefit both the building
and its occupants. The study shows that the multiple inbuilt design features of the court-
yard form work together to mitigate the hot temperatures, improving indoor air quality as
the air exchange is continuous through stack and evaporative ventilation. Indeed, these fea-
tures also provide adequate daylight to the interior. The courtyard house works with forces
of nature to allow the occupant to find comfort zones indoors daily and seasonally.
Disclosure statement
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