International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering 1

ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 01, February 2010, pp. 1-5
#02030101 Copyright 2010 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY. All rights reserved.
The influence of internal courtyard of Kerala
traditional residential buildings in providing a
comfortable indoor environment

DILI A. S.
*
, NASEER M. A.
**
, ZACHARIA VARGHESE T.
*

*
Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India
**
Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Kerala, India
Email: dili@nitc.ac.in, naseer@nitc.ac.in, zacharia@nitc.ac.in


Abstract: Traditionally, the built form of any region is derived for the beneficial aspect
of the climate and to reduce the impact of unfavorable conditions. Kerala, the land on
the southwest coast of India, has a characteristic Warm-Humid climate because of its
geographic settings. The presence of high amount of moisture in the atmosphere for
major part of the year causes thermal discomfort as there is less evaporation, resulting
in perspiration. This becomes more acute in summer when the air temperature is close
to or higher than the body temperature. In the traditional buildings of Kerala, which
evolved through ages, the influence of internal courtyards is found to be highly effective
in providing a comfortable indoor environment. The authors have conducted a smoke
study to understand the influence of internal courtyard in inducing a constant and
continuous air flow in traditional buildings of Kerala. This paper illustrates briefly the
need for climate responsive design of buildings, the effect of internal courtyards in
traditional buildings of Kerala and an investigation in a selected traditional building based
on smoke study to analyze the flow of air through the interiors to achieve better thermal
comfort.

Key words: Kerala, Traditional architecture, climate, thermal comfort, courtyard, smoke
study


Introduction
Climate responsive design is the one that
would provide a comfortable indoor
environment in response to the seasonal
variations of the climate at a particular
place. Irrespective of the extreme climatic
conditions that prevail outside, the building
indoors should keep its occupants
physiologically comfortable. This is
achieved by means of passive control
systems used in the building design. The
modern architecture does not give due
respect to passive and natural
environment control measures as it goes
along with modern materials, trends and
technology which often cause high energy
consumption. On the other hand, the
traditional architecture at any place has
evolved through ages by consistent and
continuous effort to achieve more efficient
and perfect solutions that are
environmental friendly.
Kerala, a strip of land on the southwest
coast of India lying between Arabian Sea
on the west and Western Ghats on the
east, has a warm-humid climate. The
presence of high amount of moisture in the
atmosphere along with higher air
temperature for major part of the year is
the characteristic of warm-humid climate.
Under such climatic conditions, the
physiological comfort can only be achieved
by providing a constant and continuous
flow of air through the interior of the
building. The traditional architecture of
Kerala is well known for its use of natural
and passive methods in providing a perfect
climate responsive design. The authors
have been conducting experimental
investigations to analyze the passive
control methods of Kerala traditional
buildings [Dili A. S. et al, 2009, 5 papers].
The internal courtyard provided in such
traditional buildings is found to have a
prime role in providing the required air
movement through the building. Thus, in
The influence of internal courtyard of Kerala traditional residential
Buildings in providing a comfortable indoor environment

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering 1
ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 01, February 2010, pp. 1-5
addition to the air flow measurement
recorded with electronic sensors, a smoke
study was conducted to analyze the
internal air movement especially the air
movement that is induced in the interiors
of traditional buildings when there is still
condition outdoors.
The outcome of the study proves the
efficiency of internal courtyard in climate
responsive design of Kerala traditional
architecture.

Study of traditional buildings the
present status

The modern practice in architecture lacks
conscious effort in using passive methods
of controlling the indoor environment.
Excessive use of modern materials
irrespective of their efficiency in regulating
the indoor environment has often resulted
in high energy consumption, leading to
many environmental problems. There is a
close connection between the energy use
in buildings and the resulted
environmental damage. This is because of
energy intensive solutions that are
required in buildings to attain comfort
conditions in terms of mechanical cooling
and ventilation and artificial lighting. This
has caused severe depletion of non-
renewable energy resources and
environmental degradation.

Studies on passive environment control
systems in buildings providing thermal
comfort are in progress in the form of
assessment of thermal comfort parameters
of traditional buildings, in various part of
the world [Youngryel Ryu et al, 2009,
Mujgan Serefhanoglu Sozen et al, 2007,
Do-Kyoung Kim et al, 2005, Lin Borong, et
al, 2003 and Ryozo Ooka, 2000]. These
types of studies were originated in Korea
and Zambia in 1996 [Kyung-Hoi Lee et al,
Steve Sharples et al, 1996, Albert Malama
et al, 1997]. It was then attempted in
different countries such as Japan, China,
etc. within a short period. In other parts of
India, the results of such studies have
published recently in the context of N-E
region [Manoj Kumar Singh et al., 2009].
The majority of these studies have precise
aims to find out methods to adopt in
modern buildings. The results of such
studies have been used recently in modern
buildings in Korea [T.J. Kim et al, 2009].

Kerala traditional architecture, evolved
based on the principles of climate
responsive design, has now emerged as an
important area among the researchers in
this field. Efforts are made by researchers
in this field for a comprehensive and
quantitative analysis of traditional
architecture of Kerala [Dili et al, 2009].
These studies undertaken in the context of
Kerala have already started providing
valuable results regarding the passive
environment control systems. It is believed
that the outcome of the research will
provide the present day architects and
engineers with energy efficient and
sustainable design even while utilizing the
modern materials and construction
methods.

The Effect of Internal Courtyards in
Traditional Buildings of Kerala

The basic module of a traditional Kerala
residential building is nalukettu with four
blocks generally rectangular or square in
plan, built around an open courtyard. The
blocks are topped with a sloping roof on
four sides while the courtyard is open to
sky for letting air and light inside (Fig.1).
There is an internal verandah around the
courtyard for protection from rain and sun.
A typical layout of a traditional Kerala
house is shown elsewhere [Dili et al,
2009].














Fig.1: A typical courtyard of a Kerala
traditional residential building

Courtyard and patio are quite common in
warm humid climate where the building
DILI A. S, NASEER M. A and ZACHARIA VARGHESE T.

International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering
ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 01, February 2010, pp. 1-5
encloses an open space fully or partly
[Krishnan et al]. Such spaces are
commonly referred to as microclimate
modifiers. They enjoy better microclimatic
conditions than the surrounding open
areas, and are supposed to have a positive
effect on the indoor comfort conditions of
the enclosing building volume. In a
courtyard, a pool of cool air is retained as
this is heavier than the surrounding warm
air [Koenigsberger et al]. The top layer of
the air in the courtyard gets warmer in day
time and becomes lighter, causing the air
to move upwards. Thus a low pressure
develops in the courtyard and it induces an
air movement from outside, through the
surrounding spaces (Fig.2). In addition to
this thermal induction, the internal
courtyard helps to induce air movement
due to pressure effect in the event of high
velocity external wind that flow above the
building. The wind flow reduces the
pressure at the top layer of the air column
and creates a suction effect above the
small courtyard. This produces an upward
movement in the top layer of air in the
courtyard, pulling the air towards the court
through the surrounding spaces resulting
in circulation of air in those spaces.











Fig.2: Concept of air movement through
courtyard


Smoke study

The residential building selected for the
smoke study is located in the northern part
of Kerala at Nilambur in the Malappuram
district. The building (Puthiya Kovilakam)
is nearly 300 years old.

The building has three courtyards of
rectangular shape in which one courtyard
is surrounded by a double storeyed
structure. The other two courtyards are
surrounded by single storeyed structures.
The internal space taken for the study is
around the courtyard of 6 ft x 12 ft. The
courtyard has an inward looking verandah
of 3.5 ft width. The two sides of the
courtyard are semi open spaces used for
living and prayer. The other two sides are
adjoined with rooms having windows
opening to the courtyard. A plan and
section with the selected area marked is
given elsewhere [Dili et al, 2009].

The authors have devised and installed an
instrumentation setup called Architectural
Evaluation System (AES) in the building to
monitor various climatic parameters
continuously over a period of time. The
inferences drawn from the field
observations have already been published
[Dili et al, 2009]. It was proved that there
exists a continuous internal air movement
irrespective of the flow of external wind.

In order to understand the internal air
movement better, especially under still-air
condition, a smoke study was conducted.
The smoke generated outside was allowed
to pass through the building. The
movement of smoke through various
internal spaces of the building and the
courtyard was then observed. These
movements were then captured using high
resolution cameras set at different
locations within the building. It was
observed that the smoke entered from
outside to the internal spaces through the
window openings and moved towards the
courtyard to ultimately escape through the
courtyard (Fig.3&4). Interestingly, it was
also observed that when the smoke was
put off, it disappeared from the building
within seconds.














Fig.3: Smoke enters the building

The influence of internal courtyard of Kerala traditional residential
Buildings in providing a comfortable indoor environment
International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering 1
ISSN 0974-5904, Vol. 03, No. 01, February 2010, pp. 1-5
The study was conducted in the presence
of external wind and also in the absence,
i.e., when a still condition prevailed. The
pattern of smoke captured clearly indicates
that the movement is faster and the flow is
turbulent in the presence of external wind
due to the wind effect. The movement of
smoke was slow but steady and the
pattern of flow was laminar during the still
condition. This clearly establishes that
there exists a continuous convective flow
through the building at all times as
explained in the previous section.














Fig.4: Smoke moves upwards from the
courtyard


Discussion

A continuous and constant air movement
exists through the internal spaces and the
internal courtyard of a traditional building
irrespective of the external wind [Dili et al,
2009]. The smoke study conducted in the
traditional building confirms this especially
under still condition of external wind. This
study establishes the influence of internal
courtyard in inducing a continuous internal
air movement thereby an effective passive
control system for the thermal comfort of
occupants in traditional buildings of Kerala.

Arithmetical and experimental studies
have reported that the airflow through
windows drops down and then flows along
the floor [Per Heiselberg, et al, 2001].
Since the windows are placed at a lower
level (1 ft from floor) in traditional
buildings of Kerala, this phenomenon helps
the warm air from outside to interact with
the cool air settled near the floor during its
flow. This again makes the indoors cooler.
Conclusion
Natural and passive control of the indoor
environment is an important aspect of
traditional architecture of Kerala. The
presence of internal courtyards has a
prime role in achieving this comfort
condition.
The present study clearly establishes the
influence of internal courtyard in inducing
a continuous internal air movement to
achieve thermal comfort in warm-humid
climate even when still-air condition
prevails outdoors.

It is hoped that the methods and
techniques thus adopted in the Kerala
traditional architecture can be applied to
the contemporary architecture of warm
humid regions.

Acknowledgements

The authors extend sincere gratitude to
Mr. Ravi Varma of Nilamboor Kovilakam
for his kind cooperation for the conduct of
the investigation.


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