thermal performance - courtyard

8/18/2019 Thermal Performance - Courtyard

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Thermal performance characteristics of unshaded courtyards in hotand humid climates

Amirhosein Ghaffarianhoseini a, Umberto Berardi b, *, Ali Ghaffarianhoseini c

a Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, University of Malaya (UM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiab Department of Architectural Science, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3, Canadac School of Engineering, Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies, AUT University, Auckland, New Zealand

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:

Received 10 November 2014

Received in revised form

17 January 2015

Accepted 1 February 2015

Available online 7 February 2015

Keywords:

Outdoor thermal comfort

Urban microclimate

Hot and humid climate

Courtyard

Urban design

a b s t r a c t

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the design of courtyards for the microclimatic

enhancement of outdoor spaces. However, there is still little knowledge regarding the thermal perfor-

mance characteristics of courtyards, particularly in hot and humid climates. This study evaluates the

ability of unshaded courtyards for providing thermally comfortable outdoor spaces according to different

design congurations and scenarios, including the orientations, height and albedo of wall enclosure, and

use of vegetation. The software ENVI-met was used as a tool for simulating the thermal performance of

courtyards in the hot and humid climate of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The PMV and the number of hours

per day that a courtyard could be enjoyed once the proposed design suggestions were implemented are

assessed. Likewise, the Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) index allowed to further explore

the thermal comfort conditions of courtyards. As a result, guidelines are proposed in order to optimize

the design of courtyards towards enhancing their thermal performance characteristics. In particular, the

study shows that according to design parameters such as the building height ratio, an abundance in the

amount vegetation the courtyard can achieve an acceptable level of thermal comfort for the tropics and

may be enjoyed by its users for a long duration of daytime even during the noontime. Finally, this paper

stresses that only well designed courtyards may represent a valid option for sustainable builtenvironments.

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Modeling the relationship between buildings and the sur-

rounding outdoor environment is a multidisciplinary imperative

for urban climate and outdoor thermal comfort [1e3]. In view of

the negative impacts of the urban heat island effect, particularly on

energy use, air quality and human health [4] and its signicant

inuence on urban comfort [5], meteorological studies which

previously focused primarily on the meso-scale (10e

40 km) haverecently started to focus on the micro-scale (less than 1 km). This is

due to the importance of the microclimate of outdoor spaces and

urban canopy layers as signicant elements of contemporary urban

areas [3e5].

Given the growing interest in outdoor thermal comfort and

urban life [6], various attempts have been made to study the im-

pacts of courtyards on natural ventilation and thermal comfort

[7e9]. In fact, several potential benets can be achieved by con-

trolling the micro-scale characteristics of outdoor spaces through

courtyards.

The impact of courtyards in some climates has been assessed

qualitatively and quantitatively by using eld measurements and

computer modeling [1,10e14] However, there have been very few

studies [2,15,16] that focus on the tropical climate where, due to

high temperatures and relative humidity levels, the utilization of

courtyards merits detailed investigations. In the context of thetropical climate, cooling effects in outdoor spaces can be enhanced

by reducing the solar radiation received by the ground [17].

This study aims to evaluate quantitatively the thermal effects of

a courtyard in Malaysia and to suggest guidelines to design more

sustainable built environments in this climate zone.

2. Thermal effects of courtyards

A courtyard is an enclosed outdoor or semi-outdoor space sur-

rounded by buildings and open to the sky. Courtyards were pri-

marily adopted in vernacular buildings in parts of Asia, the Middle* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ1 416 979 5000x3263; fax: þ1 416 979 5153.

E-mail address: [email protected] (U. Berardi).

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Building and Environment

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m/ l o c a t e / b u i l d e n v

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.001

0360-1323/©

2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Building and Environment 87 (2015) 154e168

mailto:[email protected]://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03601323http://www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenvhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.001http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.001http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.001http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.001http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.001http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.001http://www.elsevier.com/locate/buildenvhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03601323http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1016/j.buildenv.2015.02.001&domain=pdfmailto:[email protected]


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East, South America, and the Mediterranean countries [18e20].

Their function was to improve comfort conditions by modifying the

microclimate around the building and by enhancing ventilation.

Different archetypes have been adopted for courtyards design in

different countries (and weathers) through the centuries. Romans

and Arabs often included colonnades, especially in convents and

important palaces. The history of using courtyards in Malaysia goes

back to the era of indigenous architecture where Malay traditional

houses in Melaka, Malaysia's oldest city, incorporated enclosed

inner courtyards based on the inuence of traditional Chinese

houses [2,21]. Courtyards were similarly observed in the design of

Chinese traditional [22]. The growing interest in the use of court-

yards in various types of contemporary architectural projects

including residential, educational and healthcare is evident in the

Malay context (Fig. 1). Nevertheless, it can be argued that despite

the importance of courtyard design in Malaysia, considerably less

attention has been paid to the circumstances of enhancing their

thermal performance and the development of design guidelines for

improving their effectiveness towards achieving outdoor thermal

comfort.

Literature related to the performance of courtyards mainly ex-

amines inter-courtyard air movements, sun-shadow relations, and

formal congurations [24]. One of the rst attempts towardsanalyzing the thermal performance of courtyards is reported by

Dunham [25]. Subsequently, the potential of courtyards for

ensuring suf cient ventilation and maximized airow was

conrmed through CFD analysis and wind tunnel studies while

airow patterns within a courtyard were illustrated [25e27].

Likewise, shading inherent in courtyards has been reported to be

highly contributive to thermal comfort [26]. Meanwhile, the sig-

nicant roles of courtyards in bringing in daylight, ensuring natural

ventilation and optimizing the thermal behavior have been re-

ported by Khan et al. [18] and Acosta et al. [13].

The study by Aldawoud reveals that courtyards are more energy

ef cient in hot climates than in temperate or cold climates [25]. Al-

Masri and Abu-Hijleh identify that a building integrated with

courtyard in the hot and humid climate of Dubai consumes 6.9%

less energy per year in comparison to a typical building [19].

Courtyards are claimed to be highly ef cient in enhancing the

ventilation and decreasing the humidity level, as shown by Raja-

paksha et al. who also illustrated a strong correlation between

courtyard wall surface temperatures and indoor air temperatures

[15].

Ernest ascertains that the application of bio-climatic features

such as the use of vegetation is highly recommended for improving

the performance of courtyards [28]. For instance, in Israel, the

utilization of trees and grass in courtyards led to enhanced comfort

through their daytime cooling which ranges a PMVbetween 1.5 and

2.5 based on different landscape treatments [12]. In addition,

experimental studies in Saudi Arabia indicated that covering

courtyards during the daytime while opening it to the sky during

night reduces the outdoor air temperature by 4 C [29].The study by Safarzadeh and Bahador show that courtyards

alone cannot ensure a high level of thermal comfort in the hot

summer hours in Tehran, Iran, although they can decrease the

cooling energy load [10]. Muhaisen analyzes the impact of different

design congurations of courtyards based on shading simulations

[7]. This study found that shading conditions of courtyards are

Fig. 1. Samples of courtyards in different building types in Malaysia; (a) Courtyard in Melaka town houses; (b) Courtyard in a renovated terrace house, Bangsar; (c) Courtyard in a

restored 18th century Melaka shop house; (d) Courtyard in British council complex, Kuala Lumpur; (e) Courtyard in the University Putra Malaysia, Serdang [23].

A. Ghaffarianhoseini et al. / Building and Environment 87 (2015) 154e168 155


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highly inuenced by formal proportions, location latitude and cli-

matic conditions. Furthermore, the study suggests that in the hot

and humid climate of Kuala Lumpur, courtyards with three story

levels and a long axis oriented towards north-east/south-west

result in an optimized performance. In another related study,

Muhaisen and Gadi show that the proportion and geometry of

courtyards play inuential roles in improving the shading perfor-

mances, hence, deep courtyard forms with any geometry in sum-

mer and shallow forms in winter are recommended [11]. Canton

et al. demonstrate that by comparing the maximum temperatures

in pre-elementary schools in the semi-dry continental climate of

Mendoza, Argentina, an open courtyard is 2 C warmer than a

boxed-type compact courtyard [30]. Yaşa and Ok suggest several

wall height ratios that in order to achieve the most optimized form

of courtyards [24].

Makaremi et al. propose the use of trees and plants in order to

provide high shading levels for improving the outdoor thermal

comfort in courtyards in hot and humid climates [2]. The ndings of

that study reveal that solar radiation has a more signicant inu-

ence on physiological equivalent temperature (PET) than the wind

speed, and so radiation needs to be controlled [2].

The recent study by Yahia and Johansson demonstrates that

through the use of greeneries and landscape elements in the hotand dryclimate of Syria, thermal comfort could be achieved even in

the critical hot hours of summer [31]. Likewise, the experimental

analysis of the thermal behavior of courtyards in France demon-

strates that the use of trees and water ponds increases the local

thermal comfort, with the maximum PMV at 14:00 of 3.4 for the

empty square, and 0.54 for the model with trees and water pond

[32]. A theoretical and experimental investigation of courtyards in

Greece shows that the use of soil and grass instead of concrete

pavements, in addition to the application of greeneries and water

bodies, lead to cooling effects in summer [33]. Simulations in

summer conrm that water pools lead to a decrease in air

temperature by 0.2 C and the use of soil and grass results in

0.2e0.6 C air temperature reductions [33]. Specically focused on

the advantages of greeneries are the recent studies by Berardi et al.

[34] and La Roche and Berardi [35].

The study by Hisarligil simulates the thermal performance of

courtyards in the temperate climate of Turkey and shows the great

inuence of shading on thermal comfort [36]; the ndings show

that Tmrt is less than 26.4 C in shading areas during the critical

noon time while in the central part of the courtyard which is

exposed to direct solar radiation is 66.5 C. Another recent study

ascertains that 50% coverage of trees or 30% coverage of grass plus

modied building design can decrease the average PET value by

0.4 C in the subtropical climate of Hong Kong [37]. Recently, an

extensive study by Taleghani et al. examines the inuence of the

application of greeneries, ponds and high albedo surfaces in

reducing the heat gain in Portland, US [14]: ndings present 1.6 C

and 1.1 C air temperature reductions for courtyards with vegeta-

tion and water ponds respectively, while increasing the albedo of

pavement from 0.37 to 0.91 resulted in a 1.3 C air temperature

reductions and a 2.9 C increase in the Tmrt. Taleghani et al. have

also examined the consequences of applying heat mitigation stra-

tegies on urban courtyards in the Netherlands and concluded that

higher albedo of facades leads to higher Tmrt with a maximum in-crease of þ20 C at 12:00, while a water pool in the courtyard

considerably decreases the level of mean radiant temperature with

a maximum decrease of 18 C at 15:00, and greeneries similarly

reduce the Tmrt to a maximum of 17 C [8].

Table 1 summarizes the results of recent studies about strategies

for improving the outdoor thermal comfort in urban environments

especially in courtyards.

Finally, Canton et al. stress that improper design choices can

result in the courtyards being less thermally comfortable than

surrounded open environments [30]. This last paper and the

controversial results of a eld measurement campaign in Kuala

Table 1Key design strategies for improving the thermal performance characteristics of urban spaces.

Proposed design strategies Area of investigation Climate Key reference

Use of water and sprays Al-Oyyena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Hotearid climate [29]

Incorporation of larger surface area and high thermal mass, shallow

plan form and narrow spaces for shade

Hot and arid climate [38]

Use of soil and grass as well as addition of water pools The historic centre of Thessaloniki,

Greece

Temperate climate with high

seasonal variations

[33]

Use of shading, water ponds and trees as well as conservation

measures such as insulation, double-glazed windows,

Persian Blinds and sealing tapes

Near the campus of Sharif University

of technology, Tehran, Iran

Semi-arid, continental climate [10]

Use of deep courtyard forms in summer and shallow forms in winter Summer and winter [7]

Use of trees and water ponds Fleuriot square, Nantes, France Typical hot clear sunny day

of summer

[32]

Increasing the height to three levels and orienting the long axis

of courtyards towards northeast-southwest

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Hot and humid climate [7]

Decreasing the height to one level and orienting the form of

courtyards along north-south

Stockholm Cold climate

Increasing the height to two levels and orienting the form of

courtyards along north-south

Rome Temperate climate

Increasing the height to two levels and with an orientation between

northeast-southwest and north-south

Cairo Hot and dry climate

Adding shading roof Terrace houses in Malaysia Hot and humid climate [16]

Addition of trees or/and galleries Israeli desert area Mediterranean summer in

hot and arid climate

[1]

Increasing thermal mass, surface albedo and conductivity Beijing, China Summer and winter [39]

Use of trees and vegetation plus providing high shading levels University Putra Malaysia campus Hot and humid climate [2]

Coverage of trees and grass plus strategic building design

modications

The business district of Hong Kong Subtropical climate [37]

Use of gree neries and lan dscape ele ments I nhabite d rural ar ea Damascus, Syr ia Hot and dry climate [31]

Use of water pool and urban greeneries plus decreasing the

albedo of facades

De Bilt, Netherlands Temperate climate [8]

Application of greeneries, ponds and low albedo surfaces for

reducing the heat gain

Portland State University, USA Summer period in

temperate climate

[14]

A. Ghaffarianhoseini et al. / Building and Environment 87 (2015) 154e168156


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Lumpur by one of the authors [2], suggested the investigations

proposed in this paper whose aims are to understand the real po-

tential of courtyards in hot and humid climates, and to indicate

design characteristics that can actually reduce the outdoor thermal

comfort.

3. Parametric simulations of courtyards

Parametric simulations for analyzing the thermal effects of

courtyards in Kuala Lumpur have been carried out. Kuala Lumpur is

the capital city of Malaysia, a South-East Asian maritime country

encompassing a tropical area. The city is situated near the equator

(380 N, 101420 E) and has a hot and humid climate and abundant

solar radiation. As such, when designing outdoor spaces in this area

special attention needs to be paid to the impacts of solar radiation

and possible ventilation [2,16]. Yearly mean air temperature for

Kuala Lumpur is approximately 27 C, whereas the monthly mean

of maximum air temperatures ranges from 33.5 C (March and

April) to 31.9 C (December), and the monthly mean of minimum

temperatures ranges from 23.1 C in January to 24.3 C in May

[16,40,41].

The relative mean humidity ranges between 70% and 90% with

maximum average daily levels as high as 94% [40]. The monthlymean solar radiation ranges from 14 to 16 MJ m2 d1. The wind is

regularly light, but it becomes strong with monsoon seasons. In

essence, Malaysia's microclimatic conditions are generally consis-

tent with little variations except for rainfall quantities and wind

directions Overall, generally high temperature and humidity

values, long hours of sunshine and overcast cloud cover plus heavy

rainfalls and relatively weak and variable wind velocity charac-

terize the microclimate of Kuala Lumpur.

3.1. Overview of the methodology

The thermal performance characteristics of courtyards were

analyzed according to the following design parameters: location

and orientation, dimensions and albedo of wall enclosures, andpresence of greeneries. ENVI-met 3.1, a three-dimensional uid

dynamics microclimate software was used to carry out the para-

metric studies. This software provides the platform to model the

surfaceeplanteair interactions in urban spaces with a typical res-

olution from 0.5 to 10 m in space and 10 s in time [42]. ENVI-met

requires detailed inputs related to the meteorological data, build-

ing, vegetation and soil characteristics.

One of the main advantages of ENVI-met is the capability to

calculate the Tmrt and the predicted mean vote (PMV). Tmrt is

calculated using the ISO 7726 [43] denition as “the uniform

temperature of an imaginary enclosure in which the radiant heat

transfer from the human body is equal to the radiant heat transfer

in the actual non-uniform enclosure”. Recent studies indicate that

Tmrt has a strong correlation to the human energy balance andthermal comfort and it is often a parameter better than the air

temperature to assess thermal comfort [44e47]. PMV index was

originally formulated for indoor thermal comfort; however, it has

recently been applied to outdoor conditions too. This parameter is

calculated using the Fanger equation modied for outdoor thermal

comfort conditions [1]. PMV generally ranges between 4 and þ4,

with lower and upperbound values denoting the very cold and very

hot sensations respectively; however, these values do not represent

the theoretical limits of PMV.

In order to interpret properly the simulation outputs, it is

essential to consider the assumptions behind ENVI-met as shown

in Table 2.

Subsequently, the study used RayMan 1.2 software to evaluate

the outdoor thermal comfort conditions of courtyards based on

different design congurations according to the Physiologically

Equivalent Temperature (PET) thermal comfort index [45]. PET has

been repeatedly considered an appropriate thermal index for

evaluation of outdoor thermal comfort [48]. Accordingly, thermal

comfort was analyzed based on the thermal performance classi-

cation (TPC) for (sub) tropical regions (Table 3). Accordingly, ther-

mal comfort range for (sub) tropics lies in the PET values between

26

C and 30

C representing the neutral perception, while a widerrange of thermal comfort is dened for PET values between 22 and

34 C.

3.2. Selection of a typical day

Based on the Malaysian Meteorological Department report [40],

Kuala Lumpur is generally exposed to variable winds, with four

monsoon seasons throughout the year: north-east monsoon sea-

son, south-west monsoon season and two intermediate monsoon

seasons. Since the impact of wind on the thermal performance of

outdoor spaces can be signicant, especially in humid climates, a

typical day is selected from the main monsoon season in the pre-

sent study.

In Kuala Lumpur, the highest monthly global radiation can be

found between March and June [49]. Looking into the 2013 climate

data [40], the month of March had the highest records of the global

radiation, direct radiation, diffuse radiation, and dry-bulb temper-

atures. This month was also selected in previous studies in the

tropical context of Malaysia [2,16,50]. Accordingly, this study

selected the day of March 05, which had an averagely hot and

sunny day with low temperature of 23.8 C at 20:00 and high

temperature of 31.8 C at 14:00.

3.3. Characteristics of the courtyard model

The fundamental input parameters including the building, soil

and meteorological data incorporated into the ENVI-met model are

given in Table 4.

Table 2

Assumptions in the simulation.

Assumptions in ENVI-met

Flat ground

Box shaped buildings

Cubic grid with horizontal resolution of 1 m. Higher resolution is enabled only

for the vertical axis

Empirical initial boundary conditions, found by trial and error, in order to get

good agreement with average measurement dataConstant wind profile during all simulation times

Buildings have constant indoor temperature and no heat storage

1D soil model considering a ve level profile of humidity and temperature

Vegetation model considering the photosynthesisrate,the CO2 demand, andthe

state of the stomata, the interaction of humidity and radiation in soil and air

Table 3

Thermal perceptions classication for temperate region and (sub) tropical region (a:

[48]; b: [45]).

Thermal perception PET (sub)tropical

regiona (C)

PET for temperate

regionb (C)

Very cold


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3.4. Reliability of the software

Reliability of ENVI-met for simulating the thermal performance

of outdoor spaces has been repeatedly proven [14,31,41,51e55].

These studies demonstrated an agreement between measured

(from eld measurements or observed data at local meteorological

stations) and simulated air temperatures.

In order to calibrate the model used in this study, the measured

hourly average meteorological data of dry-bulb temperature in

Kuala Lumpur are compared with the predicted hourly data from

ENVI-met for the built conguration studied in Makaremi et al. [2].

This comparison conrmed the accuracy of simulation data and of

the weather le (Fig. 2). After minor adjustments, the comparison

shows high levels of correlation demonstrating an acceptable

agreement between the predicted values and real data of meteo-

rological stations. Likewise, the PMV values derived from ENVI-met

simulation are subsequently compared with PET values obtained

from RayMan calculations to ensure consistency in the ndings.

4. Results and analysis

The study looked at different courtyard congurations. The

courtyards had an area of 576 m2, being 24m width by24 m length,

initially surrounded by a single story building with the dimensionof 60 60 m which was modeled according to the typical of ce

characteristics. This results presented in this section are divided

into the following subsections: courtyard orientation (Section 4.1),

height of wall enclosures (4.2), reectance of wall enclosures (4.3),

and presence of vegetation (4.4).

4.1. Effect of the orientation

It is important to take into consideration the orientation and

location during the early design stage of courtyards. Fig. 3 shows

ve courtyard congurations that have been studied: facing North,

South, East, West and having the courtyard central.

The impact of location and orientation of courtyards towards

in

uencing the microclimate parameters including ambient tem-perature, relative humidity, wind speed, mean radiant temperature,

and change of temperature with time was considered mapping the

different parameters or focusing on the values assumed by previous

parameters in the center of the courtyard spaces.

Results in Fig. 4 indicate that in all ve congurations, the level

of temperature is considerably high, and temperature variations

follow similar patterns among the different orientations. However,

courtyards facing North and East have slightly lower temperatures,

particularly from 10:00 to 17:00, with approximately 0.5 of dif-

ference, while the highest temperatures were recorded in the

courtyard facing West, as this orientation has the lowest level of

wind speed. Courtyards facing North and East also have a higher

level of humidity compared to the other courtyards.

According to the distribution of air temperature through the

simulated models, and focusing on two critical hours (12:00 and

14:00), it is explicitly shown that the courtyards facing North and

East have lower temperatures also far from the center of the

courtyards (Figs. 5 and 6). This result is due to the fact that the

courtyards are open to the northeast wind directions and receive

slightly more shading (Fig. 7). Nevertheless, the variation pattern

and hourly value of Tmrt are similar in all cases.

Looking into the change of air temperature relative to time of

day, in all courtyard models, the temperature is constantly

increasing from 9:00 to 15:00, while it is decreasing from 16:00 to

20:00. The highest change in air temperature occurs at 10:00 for all

ve courtyards with an approximate value of 1.8 C.

Considering the outdoor thermal comfort and looking into the

PMV values at critical hours (12:00 and 14:00), it is evident that

Table 4

ENVI-met parameters as specied in the conguration le.

Simulations input parameters

Location Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

(latitude 3 70 N and

longitude 101 330 E)

Simulation day 5th March (hot day)

Simulation duration 14 h, from 6:00 am to

8:00 pmGrid size 80 80 30

Soil data

Initial temperature, upper layer (0e20 cm) [C] 28

Initial temperature, middle layer (20e50 cm) [C] 26

Initial temperature, deep layer (>50 cm) [C] 24

Relative humidity, upper layer (0e20 cm) [%] 88

Relative humidity, middle layer (20e50 cm) [%] 90

Relative humidity, deep layer (>50 cm) [%] 93

Building data

Inside temperaturea [C] 20

Heat transmission coef cient of walls [W m2 K-1] 1.7

Heat transmission coef cient of roofs [W m2 K-1] 2.2

Albedo walls 0.3

Albedo roofs 0.15

Meteorological data

Wind speed, 10 m above ground [m s1] 1.1

Wind direction (0:N, 90:E, 180:S, 270:W) [

] 60Roughness length [m] 0.1

Initial atmospheric temperature [K] 302

Absolute humidity at 2500 m [g kg1] 8

Relative humidity at 2 m [%] 87

Cloud cover 0

Physiological data

Walking speed [m s1] 0

Mechanical factor [met] 0

Heat transfer resistance cloths [clo] 0.6

a While the indoor temperature may seem low for a building in a hot and humid

climate, this represents a typical set point of air conditioning systems in Malaysia

[41].

Fig. 2. Comparison between measurements and simulated data in the context of Kuala Lumpur.



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Fig. 3. Square-shaped courtyard models according to different orientations.

Fig. 4. Comparison of average of hourly ambient temperature (left) and relative humidity (right).

Fig. 5. Simulated spatial distributions of air temperature in the courtyard models at 12:00 at 2 m height.



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almost all courtyard spaces are thermally uncomfortable with PMV

values above 4 due to the high solar radiation intensity, long

duration of direct solar radiation, high level of temperature andhumidity, and lack of shading. Fig. 8 shows that the PMV values for

courtyards facing North and East are slightly lower; nevertheless,

also these courtyard spaces do not provide thermally comfortable

environments due to the excessive solar exposure. Focusing on the

courtyard facing North, which has a relatively better performance,

the PMV values indicated that people can only enjoy this courtyard

during morning hours before 10:00 and evening hours after 19:00.

Findings point out that without properly equipping courtyard

spaces with cooling strategies and if direct solar radiation is not

avoided, courtyards surrounded by short buildings are not

comfortable for hot and humid climates. Actually, the thermal

comfort condition could be even worse than the open areas

surrounding the building. This is mainly due to the fact that

courtyards lack the cooling effect from free breezes.

Although location and orientation of a courtyard lead todifferent microclimate results, these differences are small and the

outdoor thermal comfort condition of courtyards in all ve sce-

narios is generally poor.

4.2. Increasing the height of wall enclosures

Three different heights of wall enclosures were simulated to

investigate changes in the ground-to-wall ratio of courtyards. The

height variations were made on the courtyard model facing North,

as it was the courtyards with slightly better thermal performance.

Three different design scenarios with heights of 4 m (1-storey e

Fig. 6. Simulated spatial distributions of air temperature in the courtyard models at 14:00 at 2 m height.

Fig. 7. Comparison of average of wind speed (left) and mean radiant temperature (right).



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model 6),12 m (3-storeye model 7) and 24 m (6-storey e model 8)

were developed in order to test the ratios 6:1, 2:1 and 1:1 ( Fig. 9).

It is evident in Fig. 10 that due to having a clear sky (cloud

cover ¼ 0), solar radiation is very high during the noon time,

approximately 950 W/m2, as similarly reported by Berkovic et al.

[1] and Taleghani et al. [8] and therefore, blocking the direct radi-

ation can be highly inuential in elevating comfort due to achieving

larger shaded areas. The simulation results indicate that increasing

the height of wall enclosures in courtyards decreases the air tem-

perature. Accordingly, the temperature of the courtyard with the

highest wall enclosure (model 8, 6-storey) is 1 cooler compared to

the courtyard with the lowest height (model 6, 1-storey). Similarly,

the courtyard with the highest level of wall enclosure receives

signicantly lower direct solar radiation from 11:00 to 17:00

(Fig. 10). Overall, it is inferred that through increasing the heights,

sky view factor (SVF) is decreased and as a result, the longestduration of receiving direct solar radiation is limited to the court-

yard with the lowest height (and highest SVF).

Looking into the change of the air temperature with time, it is

found that temperature continuously increases from 9:00 to 15:00

for all courtyard models irrespective of the height of wall enclo-

sures. Subsequently, the temperature constantly decreases from

16:00 onwards for all courtyard models. In the courtyard with the

highest height of wall enclosure (model 8), the hourly increased air

temperature reduces to approximately half with respect to the

other models. However, from 12:00 to 14:00 when the sun is above

the courtyard, the temperature change in courtyard ambient with

higher heights is larger. Comparing the wind speeds, it is found that

through increasing the height of wall enclosures in courtyards,

wind speed considerably decreases.

Calculating the average daily temperature and Tmrt reveals that

the courtyard with the highest height resulting in the ratio of 1:1

(model 8) has noticeably better thermal performance followed by

courtyards by ratios of 2:1 (model 7) and 6:1 (model 6). Accordingto the comparison with the new scenarios, changing patterns of

Tmrt represent the cooling benets of increasing height of wall

Fig. 8. Simulated distributions of PMV in the courtyard models at 14:00, at 2 m height.

Fig. 9. Square-shaped courtyard models (models 6e

8) according to height of wall enclosure.



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enclosure according to reduced Tmrt values particularly from 8:00

to 12:00 and from 15:00 to 19:00. This is primarily due to the po-

tential of increased height towards expanding the shaded area

(Fig. 11).

In the courtyards with higher heights (3-storey and 6-storey),

high values of Tmrt only were obtained in the critical period from

12:00 to 15:00. High value can only be seen for the 1-storey

courtyard. This is due to its extremely poor performance as a resultof its ratio (1:6); in this low courtyard, surrounding walls do not

block the sun at all, but they do block the wind. Hence, due to its

continuous exposure to the sun with no possibility of shading plus

the reduced wind speed in the courtyard ambient, the high level of

Tmrt does not drop until late afternoon. Moreover, all these values

are obtained at the receptor located in the center of courtyard,

hence,even if the surrounding walls with low height partially block

the sun (walls facing east during morning and walls facing west

during afternoon), the center-point of courtyard is less affected.

Taleghani et al. (2014) also looked at the thermal performance

characteristics of courtyards on a hot day in the Netherlands and

reported Tmrt value of 70e75 C for courtyards at 15:00 to 18:00.

Similarly, the study by Berkovic et al. [1] examined the thermal

performance characteristics of courtyards on a typical hot day in

Israel, and the ndings demonstrated high Tmrt values of 62 C at

15:00. Similarly, Shahidan [56] investigated the thermal conditions

in Malaysia and showed high average value of 50 C for mean

radiant temperature and 30.8e67.8 C for the maximum Tmrt range.

Resulted by Hisarligil showed a high Tmrt value of 66 C for the

center of a courtyard directly exposed to the sun in the temperate

climate of Turkey [36].

As a result, the PMV distribution in courtyards during the

morning time clearly shows that the courtyards with the lowest

height (model 6) is thermally uncomfortable even at 9 am, and its

thermal comfort condition is worse than the outdoor areas sur-

rounding the building. On the other hand, the other two courtyards

(models 7 and 8) are thermally comfortable in the morning time

and their thermal comfort is signicantly improved compared to

the outdoor context. After 10 am, once the PMV distribution of

outdoor context is above 4, the courtyard with the height of 12 m

(model 7) is partially comfortable at its east side, while the court-

yard with the height of 24 m (model 8) shows a high level of thermal comfort (Fig. 12).

Fig. 12 shows that the PMV could be below 1 in models 7 and 8,

whereas it has high values in the courtyard model 6. Considering

the size of unshaded courtyard ambient for model 6 compared to its

surrounded walls with extremely low heights which are unable to

provide shading, high values of PMV, beyond the standard

maximum value of 4, are justied.

In a recent study, Makaremi et al. [2] showed that although high

values of PMV and PET were achieved for courtyards in Malaysia,

many of the responders still feel thermally comfortable given their

psychological adaptation. This is due to the difference between

human subjective assessment and objective measurements [57]. It

is, hence, important to clarify that respondents can be more

tolerant of the warm thermal environment due to their expectationabout the tropics, especially in extreme climates such as the

monsoon region in Malaysia.

Exploring the thermal performance of courtyards in critical

times of the day (12:00 and 14:00), it emerged that all court-

yards are thermally uncomfortable during this time, since the

sun is high in the sky and hence, less blockage of direct solar

radiation could be carried out through wall enclosures. Never-

theless, according to PMV distributions, at 12:00, the east side of

courtyards with higher heights, particularly the courtyard with

the height of 24 m (model 8) has a better thermal comfort

condition while at 14:00, only a small portion of the west side of

the model with the highest height (model 8) has a better thermal

comfort condition.

This analysis reveals that increasing the height of the wallenclosure is insuf cient for ensuring improved thermal comfort

during the critical times of the day in the tropics.

Findings conrm the distinct effect of increasing the height of

wall enclosures in courtyards and decreasing the duration of

receiving direct excessive solar radiations. Nonetheless, according

to the PMV distributions in critical times of the day, thermal per-

formance of courtyards is extremely poor. This highlights the need

to look into other strategies for providing comfortable spaces, such

as the application of shading devices or greeneries. Supporting

these ndings, the PETgraphs explicitly indicate that increasing the

height of wall enclosures reduces the critical period of thermal

discomfort to 12:00 to 15:00, while the courtyard with the lowest

height continuously has a thermally uncomfortable ambient from

9:00 to 18:00 (Fig. 13).

Fig. 10. Comparison of average of hourly ambient temperature (above) and direct ra-

diation (below) for different heights of the courtyard.

Fig. 11. Mean radiant temperature for courtyards with different heights of wall

enclosure.



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4.3. Increasing the albedo of wall enclosures

Increasing the albedo of facades has been proposed for reducingthe surface temperature and for cooling both indoor and outdoor

spaces. Cotana et al. [57] investigate albedo control strategies using

highly reective materials for improving the energy ef ciency of

buildings. Facades with higher albedo absorb less solar radiation

and reect the majority of it.

The study by Taleghani et al. [8] shows that increasing the al-

bedo of facades of courtyards on relatively hot days in the

Netherlands increases the outdoor ambient temperature. This is

due to more solar radiation being reected to the center area of

courtyards, and a lower chance to dissipate the solar energy

received from building facades. Three scenarios were developed

based on increasing the albedo of wall enclosures: albedo values of

0.3 (model 9e

brick), 0.55 (model 10e

marble) and 0.93 (model 11e highly reective plaster).

The results with different values of albedo show that from 7:00

to 8:00, a courtyard with a higher albedo has slightly higher air

temperature (approximately þ0.25 C) and considerably higher

Tmrt (Fig. 14). Looking at the thermal performance at 13:00, it

emerges that although the courtyard ambient in all three cases

demonstrates a relatively high level of thermal discomfort ac-

cording to the PMV distribution (Fig. 15), the thermal condition is

worsened in the courtyards with higher albedo. The PMV value of

the courtyard with an albedo of 0.3 is approximately 4 indicating a

discomfort, while an albedo of 0.55 results in an increased PMV

value of 5, whereas an albedo of 0.93 leads to a PMV value of 6.

Looking at a less critical time of the day (16:00), although direct

solar radiation is decreased in comparison to the noon time,increasing the albedo still signicantly reduces thermal comfort. In

fact, the PMV values for albedo of 0.30, 0.55 and 0.93 were 2.5, 3.5

and 4.5 respectively. Similarly, the calculated PET values demon-

strate that increasing the albedo values of wall surfaces results in a

signicant reduction of thermal comfort conditions. It is evident

that the PET values are above the wider range of thermal comfort

(22e34 C) in all courtyards during the critical period of 12:00 to

15:00, while a better thermal performance of courtyards with

lower albedo may be appreciated (Fig. 16).

4.4. Utilization of vegetation

The study then considered the utilization of ve different con-

gurations of grass and trees in the selected courtyard models. It is

Fig. 12. Simulated distributions of PMV in courtyard models 6 to 8 at 9:00 and 10:00, at 2 m height.

Fig. 13. Variations of calculated PET values in courtyard models 6 to 8.



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known from previous studies that adding greeneries, particularly

trees, will improve the thermal comfort level in courtyards in

temperate according to larger shaded areas.The thermal performance of courtyards with no greeneries

(model 12), 100% covered by grass (model 13), 25% covered by trees

(model 14), 50% covered by trees (model 15), and 75% covered by

trees (model 16) were hence evaluated (Fig. 17).

The results clearly show that increasing the use of trees in

courtyards directly results in an increased level of relative humid-

ity. Using trees considerably reduces the level of ambient air tem-

perature from 7:00 to 11:00 and from 17:00 onwards. The reduction

rate can reach up to three degrees at particular times of the day

such as 8:00 and 20:00. Nevertheless, it is evident that during the

critical time of the day (12:00 to 15:00) when the sun is almost

above the building and insuf cient shading is achieved, the adop-

tion of trees increases the ambient air temperature (Fig.18). Indeed,

despite the undeniable benets of trees, there could be negative

Fig. 14. Hourly ambient air temperature (left) and mean radiant temperature (right).

Fig. 15. Simulated distributions of PMV in courtyard models 9 to 11 at 13:00 and 16:00, at 2 m height.




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impacts in hot climates due to different reasons: trees can reduce

the wind speed [48]; and their canopies can block the net outgoing

long-wave radiations [44]. Looking at the thermal comfort condi-

tions, it is inferred that increasing the coverage of trees generally

improves the thermal comfort zones and levels. However, coverage

of courtyard ground with grass does not have a signicant impact

on the thermal comfort. As shown in Fig.19, the bare courtyard has

the highest PMV, and in the courtyard with the highest coverage of

trees, the area of thermal comfort zone is considerably increased.

Furthermore, looking into the PET graphs, it is clearly shown that

the courtyard with highest coverage of trees (Model 16e75%

coverage of trees) signicantly reduces the critical period of ther-

mal discomfort to 13:00 to 14:00 (Fig. 20). Moreover, the repre-

sented PET values refer to receptors located at the center of the

courtyard where less shading was achieved through the sur-

rounded walls and trees; on the contrary, once referring to other

zones of the courtyards, it was obtained a thermal comfort condi-

tion over the entire day.

Fig. 17. Square-shaped courtyard models (models 12e16) according to the utilization of greeneries (grass 50 cm aver, dense e tree 20 m aver, dense, no distinct crown).

Fig. 18. Comparison of average hourly air temperature (left) and relative humidity (right).

Fig. 19. Simulated spatial distributions of PMV in courtyard models 12e16 at 12:00 and 15:00, at 2 m height.



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Comparing the measured PET values in two areas of a courtyard

(space I extremely near to a multi-story building, and space II in thecentral point of courtyard) [2] with the simulated PET values, it

emerged a good agreement. The variation of values follow a rela-

tively similar slope, although courtyard model 16 generally over-

estimates the thermal comfort (Fig. 21).

Overall, ndings show that the number of hours per day that a

courtyard can generally be enjoyed by the users could be extended

to the entire day except the critical period of 12:00 to 15:00 (this

period is reduced to 12:00 to 13:00 in courtyard model 16). Like-

wise, during this critical period, particular areas of courtyard

adjacent to the surrounded buildings are still more comfortable

than the center area which is fully exposed to the sun.

Finally, it is evident that the evaluation of the thermal perfor-

mance characteristics of courtyards during the early design stage

can ensure creating comfortable outdoor spaces throughout theentire day, including the extremely hot hours of noontime.

5. Conclusions

Outdoor thermal comfort plays an important role in enhancing

urban life. Literature reports that courtyards may improve the

thermal comfort of outdoor spaces if they are properly designed.

Scientic studies focusing on the thermal behavior of courtyards

are predominantly observed in arid or temperate areas. Neverthe-

less, evaluating the micro-scale thermal environment in tropical

contexts was considered important. Accordingly, the thermal

comfort during typical sunny day conditions in the hot and humid

tropical context of Malaysia was studied in this research.

Findings present new insights to ameliorate the thermal com-

fort conditions of the built environment in tropical areas by

designing ef cient courtyards. According to numerous simulations,

effective design options for the integration of courtyards are pro-

posed. Despite recording some very hot and thermally uncom-

fortable conditions for unshaded courtyards, ndings present

evident examples of more acceptable comfort levels and cooling

potential based on the use of heat mitigation strategies in court-

yards. As a result, the outdoor thermal comfort in enclosed or semi-

enclosed courtyards in the hot humid climate of Malaysia could

improve through adequate attention to the design congurations.

Hence, although many studies present that courtyards are pre-

dominantlyoperative in hotand arid areas, they can also perform in

hot and humid climates.

A comparison between the models and their outdoor thermal

comfort situations helps clarify guidelines for future optimization

of the thermal performance characteristics of courtyards. Based on

the interpretations derived from simulations:

It is generally very crucial to control the amount of incoming

solar radiation received by the ground in tropical contexts.

Meanwhile, it is important to express that in this study, simu-

lations were run in clear sky conditions (cloud cover), and as aresult, SW direct solar radiations are very high, particularly

during the noon time (over 1000 W/m2 in March). Hence, it

should be noted that the high values of PMV and PET belong to a

sunny day with clear sky and high solar radiation intensity,

while in reality, sky in the tropics can be cloudy, which can

result in a lower level of PMV and PET;

Proper selection of the location and orientation of courtyards

can lead to receiving maximized wind with higher speed plus an

increased amount of shade during the daytime, hence, it is an

important factor for ameliorating the outdoor thermal comfort.

Simulations reveal that the courtyard facing North has slightly

better thermal performance with minimum air temperature of

300 K at 8:00 and maximum air temperature of 305 K at 15:00.

Nevertheless, it is essential to consider the relatively weak andvariable wind velocity and direction in the context of analysis;

Increasing the height of wall enclosures in courtyards signi-

cantly improves the outdoor thermal comfort by blocking the

intense solar radiations and providing more shaded areas.

Findings conclude that increasing the height of courtyards

considerably decreases the level of Tmrt during the daytime with

an average decrease rate of 30 C, however, during the critical

period of 12:00 to 15:00, the Tmrt in the courtyard with the

lowest height is 2 lower than the rest. Furthermore, PET values

reveal that increasing the height of courtyard signicantly re-

duces the duration of thermal discomfort from 9 h (9:00 to

18:00) to 3 h (12:00 to 15:00);

Increasing the albedo of wall enclosures in courtyards consid-

erably reduces the outdoor thermal comfort, hence, the meanradiant temperature in the courtyard with high albedo of 0.93 is

12 higher at 12:00 than the courtyard with albedo of 0.3. As a

result, higher level of PMV and PET belongs to the courtyard

with highest albedo;

Use of vegetation such as grass for covering the courtyard pro-

vides a limited inuence towards improving the thermal com-

fort with a maximum air temperature decrease rate of 0.13 at

7:00 compared to the courtyard with bare ground;

Use of trees in courtyards can enhance the overall thermal

comfort and it can reduce the unshaded areas that have a high

level of discomfort. Covering the courtyard with 75% trees leads

to the highest air temperature decrease rates of 3.3 and 2.5 at

20:00 and 8:00 respectively and an average increase rate of

10.5% for the relative humidity, compared to the courtyard with


Fig. 21. Comparison of PET values derived from eld measurements and simulations

for the courtyard model 16.



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bare ground. Nevertheless, use of trees in warm climates can

have negative effects on air temperature at particular times

through blocking wind, reducing the wind velocity, and

decreasing the nocturnal cooling. Accordingly, a courtyard

covered with 75% trees is approximately 1 warmer than the

bare courtyard during the period of 13:00 to 14:00. Nonetheless,

PMV distribution shows that during the critical period of 12:00

to 15:00 and despite the increased temperature of courtyards

with more greeneries, courtyards with the highest ratio of

greeneries have a higher thermal comfort than bare courtyards.

More importantly, it can be concluded that although courtyards

covered with greeneries from 0 to 50% provide thermally

comfortable conditions in all daytime except the period from

12:00 to 15:00, courtyards with highest coverage of greeneries

(75%) are capable of reducing the critical period of thermal

discomfort to 13:00 to 14:00;

Comparing the ndings with previous studies, it is indicated

that with the proposed design congurations and heat mitiga-

tion strategies of this research, higher level of thermal comfort

may be achieved also in tropical climate;

Courtyards in the hot andhumid climate of Malaysia canprovide

a thermally comfortable environment which can be enjoyed by

people only during the early morning period (7:00 to 10:00) andthe evening time (19:00 onward). This duration could be sub-

stantially increased once the courtyard's performance is opti-

mized through proper analysis of design variants. It is important

to state that the focus of this research was on the unshaded

outdoor courtyards which are directly open to the sky and fully

exposed to solar radiations, and therefore providing high ther-

mal comfort is hard to achieve.

It is also useful to remind some of the limits of the ENVI-met

software used: building temperature is xed and identical in all

the points of the building for all buildings; similarly, the trans-

mittance and albedo values are xed and identical for all the su-

percies of the buildings; nally, anthropogenic heat and mass

(included water vapor) uxes such as traf c or air conditioning arenot considered.

Future research will look at the thermal conditions of shaded

courtyards based on exploring the variety of shading design options

and examining their effectiveness for further improving the out-

door thermal performance characteristics even during critical

hours of the day.This study was limited to the thermal performance

characteristics of courtyards; nevertheless, future research is

needed to look into the impacts of courtyard on the indoor thermal

conditions and energy performance of surrounding buildings.

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