Climate Responsive Residential Architecture in Dhading

Abstract

Climate responsive design is considered to be one of the major requirements to drive the building sector towards sustainable development. Climate-responsive design in a particular region is influenced by factors such as air temperature, relative humidity, wind, irradiation, and rainfall. Due to Nepal's very variable geography, there are many different climatic conditions within a short distance. The country's building industry has adopted standard design and construction methods as a result of the introduction of modern construction technologies, ignoring the local climate and relying instead on energy-intensive mechanical measures to offer comfort inside the building. For the study primary quantitative and qualitative field data and secondary quantitative climate data was collected from Department of Hydrology and Meteorology and developed bioclimatic chart and Mahoney table which gives the different design strategies for Dhading. The study reviews examples of traditional and modern residential architecture and its building features in Dhading and analyses in a qualitative and qualitative manner. Climatic data from Dhading shows that most of the month in a year are hot. From bioclimatic chart it was found that the summer temperature is high in day time hence passive cooling strategies are recommended. From Mahoney table also heavy walls and roof with permanent provision of air movement is recommended. From the study it was found that traditional buildings have less indoor air temperature but have high indoor humidity level. However traditional building materials and design features applied in Dhading are climate responsive than contemporary buildings.