Microclimatic Performance of Courtyard Residential Buildings in Kafanchan-Nigeria

Abstract

The Climatic performance of courtyard residential buildings needs to be investigated if the assertion that courtyard is a microclimate modifier is to be
accepted. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the microclimatic performance of two existing courtyard residential buildings with similar characteristics in
Kafanchan-Kaduna Nigeria, -the fully enclosed courtyard residential building and the semi-enclosed courtyard residential building. The purpose of this research is to investigate their microclimatic performances in other to establish the best courtyard house. This study uses measurement to achieve its aim. The tool employed for data collection is the Hobo Weather Data Loggers (HWDL). Three HWDL were used to collect data in the two case-study, and the third one was placed in the outside area as a benchmark. Only air temperature and relative humidity were measured. This study revealed a tangible difference in the
microclimatic performance of the two case-study. The fully enclosed courtyard residential building is seen to have air temperature difference of 1 oC to 3 oC, and the relative humidity difference of 4 % to 8 %. In conclusion, the fully enclosed courtyard house demonstrated a more favorable microclimatic performance than the semi-enclosed, and further simulation studies towards its optimization are required.