The influence of building design features on microclimatic modification in the warm periods of the year. Discussion based on temperature measurements

The study of thermal environment around buildings is of great importance for residential microclimatic conditions. Temperature of external building surfaces, ground and outside air as well, affect the sense of thermal comfort for a person sitting outside a house. The microclimatic components that can be modified through design and that strongly affect thermal comfort in the open areas close to the buildings is sun radiation and thermal radiation emitted by the surrounding objects. Many architectural design features of a building affect the exposure to the sun and the heat released to the environment. In this paper is presented a preliminary study on how the external building surfaces, shading devices and materials commonly used in the building skin influence the thermal environment around the buildings. The discussion is based on the results of a field experiment carried out in a single storey house in the surrounding area of Thessaloniki, Northern Greece (400N). A series of measurements were performed in order to explore the thermal effect of the fixed overhang and the various building materials to the creation of the microclimate close to the building. The potential of different design solutions, as how suitable are for creating thermal comfort conditions, is analysed for September, -a month at the boundaries of the cooling season-, when the air temperature is still high but pleasant as well, for a person to sit outside the building, all day.