Exploring vernacular courtyard strategies to improve thermal performance of modern housing in Dhaka

The present Dhaka, a rapidly growing unban centre of Bangladesh, is experiencing a major shift in the last three decades, exhibiting a mixed and complex set of characteristics. This study aimed to investigate the thermal effect of the age-old courtyard strategy of Bengal architecture by integrating them with the modern housing. Through an extensive literature study, three vernacular case studies were selected to represent different building styles. Generic models based on typical modern housing styles were also generated for studies. The thermal performance of courtyard in the vernacular buildings was analysed followed by a comparative study between the modern conventional and courtyard buildings. Each study was comprehensively analysed to observe the efficiency of courtyard throughout the year. The final outcomes of this research were based on experiments conducted through building performance simulations software (IES-VE). The investigation revealed that the courtyard helped the vernacular buildings to remain within the thermal comfort temperature range up to 10%. The incorporation of the courtyard in the modern housing in the hot humid temperature resulted in 3% lesser indoor temperature than the conventional houses. The analysis also reviewed that the courtyards support to provide additional solar radiation to increase the comfortable indoor temperature by 10.5% in the winter season.