English

We made a series of subjective experiments to grasp individual behaviours and thermal sensation of the occupants in as actual environmental conditions as possible by observation using video cameras. The use of video cameras allows us to have the time-series of scenes of the occupants participating in the experiment; it also allows us to avoid disturbing their natural behaviours and sensations.

Wind access/protection in cities can be affected by the morphological characteristics of the built environment. Town-planning legislation, building codes and city plan regulations influence those characteristics. Substantial climate-responsive changes of such laws and by-laws as well as simplified environmental performance evaluation tools can contribute to the reduction of mechanical ventilation and air conditioning energy loads through natural ventilation-proned urban design.

As streets usually cover more than a quarter of the urban area, canyon street morphology plays an important role in creating the urban climate. It directly influences the air temperature, moisture and wind flow within the streets as well as the urban surrounding area and has been the topic in several urban climatology studies. Recently, studies based on the street Cluster Thermal Time Constant (CTTC) model have been carried out by the authors with a view to assessing the thermal effects of alternative architectural designs of the flanking buildings and inner courtyards.

We describe the potential of using hygroscopic materials that release moisture and latent heat in order to reduce the temperature of building envelopes and, there upon, conduction cooling loads. It is analysed 3 different weathers and a classic Brazilian wall with different values of paint permeance on both external and internal surfaces. The results are presented in terms of temperature, moisture content profiles and heat fluxes, showing how to save energy from the natural movement of moisture.

This article talks about the solutions that the vernacular architecture of desert areas in Iran has used to survive against undesirable climatic conditions. It is a partial result of a research that has been done by the author in 1994 in Shahid Beheshti University in Iran. It discusses and assesses climatic problems and living discomfort of the Zavareh, a small historical city in Esfahan province.

The results of numerical simulation on the effects of solar chimney for ventilation in the new building of Faculty of International Environmental Engineering Kitakyushu University, Japan are described. The air velocity and pressure within the solar chimney were estimated by simplified methods and CFD calculation and both results agreed quite well. It was found that the air flow rates would depend on the inside wall temperatures and section ratio of solar chimney with the same section area.

A scale mock-up house installed with a "Breathing Wall" was constructed outdoors in order to consider the practical application of breathing walls in houses in temperate-climate regions. It was found that, under outdoor weather conditions, the Breathing Wall provides the necessary amount of ventilation, thermal insulation and moisture transmission required for application in a temperate climate region. No adverse effects on the indoor environment were found even when cold outdoor air flowed through the Breathing Wall.

Hispano-Islamic architecture addresses a great concern about summer heat. The seasonal high temperatures and dry atmosphere of southern Spain constituted a real challenge for the XIV-century Muslim builders of the Generalife. This small palace shows clearly a series of environmental strategies involving cooling due to its condition of summer villa for the sultans of Granada. This paper is based on a PhD research project on the Environmental Aspects of Hispano-Islamic Architecture carried out by the author under supervision of Simos Yannas.

The traditional architecture of the city of Sana's is considered to be one of the best examples of architectural heritage in the world. It also reflects the builders' full understanding of local traditional building materials and of the climatic environment. Building airflow helps maintain comfort in these buildings and therefore the aim behind this study is to understand how the vernacular houses of the old city of Sana's perform in terms of natural ventilation. The study also examines the role of air temperature and wind speed in natural ventilation.

During September 1998 to April 1999, environmental monitoring was carried out in part of the Djomi Museum, located in the warm humid tropics of Arnhem Land, Australia. An important finding of the study is that in this well sealed building with some thermal mass, internal RH under the influence of the air conditioning was generally higher, and more variable. Importantly for a repository building, in its relatively 'passive' mode the Djomi Museum experienced virtually no combination of conditions likely to lead to major problems with mould.