A comfort natural classroom design for hot-humid climate

Abstract

Today, most classrooms in Thailand have many problems interfering learning activities. These factors are thermal, lighting, visual, and acoustics properties of materials and room design. Thermal comfort is the most influence factor in learning activity and help user ready to study. Using mechanical system in building is a very common way for designer and owner, which consumes a lot of energy. The use of natural elements can improve classroom thermal quality. These techniques found in this research are using evaporative cooling to reduce the ambient temperature. Using land form to enhance a wind velocity and selecting low surface temperature to create low Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT). The real natural classroom was constructed at Thammasart University to illustrate those techniques. During summer peak day, thermal comfort condition inside natural classroom is 36% (9 hour per day) better than conventional one. Applying causal activity in classroom can expand thermal comfort up to 72% during daytime and up to 83% in average all day. Low MRT surfaces with ground contact can increase comfort especially during high air temperature as indicate outside comfort zone. Combined low ambient temperature and low MRT still have some hours left outside comfort condition during the day, then low speed wind will be introduced just enough to bring human sensation in comfort zone.