Thermal comfort is the condition of mind that expresses satisfaction with the thermal environment, simply put our body feels at harmony with the climatic condition surrounding us. Our daily life comprises states of activity, fatigue and recovery, and thus it is essential that the mind and body recovers through recreation, rest and sleep to counter balance the mental and physical fatigue and for that we need to have place where we can minimize or eliminate unfavourable factors. The need to achieve thermal comfort in our housing is one of the main factors in a design process and consequences of not achieving it through design increases the cost of using such a building. The task of a designer is to create the best possible indoor climate. Criteria of total comfort depend upon each of the human senses. A subjective – emotional relationship with our environment is necessary for survival. Emphasis has to be put on the thermal comfort factors and it is also a dominant problem in tropical climates. Air temperature, humidity, radiation, air movement and other factors have to be taken into account in design process. The main objectives of thermal comfort, changes as conditions changes. When cold discomfort prevails, objectives are to prevent heat loss and utilise heat gain from sun and internal sources. When hot discomfort conditions prevail, objectives are to prevent heat gain and maximise heat loss. There are physiological objectives that an designer has to achieve in different conditions to make space habitable. Through mechanical methods can help achieve thermal comfort in any kind of building, reducing the effects of nature through design and use of different techniques helps to achieve harmony without disturbing the balance of nature. Techniques involving passive cooling , dealing with radiation, shading devices, double roof system, surface colouring, thermal massing, ventilation openings, wind tower, air tunnels, trombe wall, landscaping , statically locating water body and more techniques been researched on presently can used in design and help reduce the load on mechanical methods, which can reduce carbon blueprint in buildings. So if we apply such techniques we might see more nature responsive designs.

Full text: IJEIR_858_Final.pdf