DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR CLIMATE RESPONSIVE RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN HIMACHAL PRADESH

Abstract

Climate responsive design is part of an environmental approach to building design. It includes the study of climate, biology and building design to improve the thermal comfort conditions of the inhabitants. Climate plays a main role in the building performance and the energy consumption. With advancement achieved in the field of building science and technology, we are increasingly becoming aware of the importance of energy-efficient building design. High energy consuming and environment damaging buildings can no longer be considered as sustainable. To achieve rapid improvements in building performance there is a need to develop guidelines/ strategies for bringing sustainability which incorporates climate as a main domain and is responsive to one of the important attribute in the different typologies of the buildings. Many a time one can find solution to optimize the use of re- sources and to achieve human comfort by critically evaluating the vernacular architecture of that place. In the traditional architecture, buildings were designed to achieve human comfort by using locally available building materials and construction technology which are more responsive to their climate and geographic condition. So there is increasing demand for techniques which are sensitive to local climate and geographical conditions. This dissertation work presents the study of the climate influences on the built form, resulting in to comfortable habitats for different zones of Himachal Pradesh along with the materials and construction techniques. To know about the energy efficiency in buildings, case study related to solar passive designs is also include. The dissertation concludes by suggesting design guidelines and recommendations based on the case studies and the literature review.