Improving indoor thermal comfort in residential buildings in Nepal using energy efficient building techniques

Abstract: Research within the field of energy efficient building techniques applied on Nepalese residential houses are a rare sight. Previous researchers have studied vernacular architecture in the country in aspects of climate-responsive design, but it is hard to find case studies on how material or architectural changes can improve the indoor climate in specific house types and climate zones in the country. This thesis aims to give examples of how passive energy efficient building techniques, such as use of insulation and passive solar heating, affect the indoor climate throughout the year in a one-storey Nepalese house. Two locations on different altitudes are chosen to represent cold and warm temperate climate in the country. Eight interviews are performed with people living in similar houses in the chosen areas and one house of the interviewees is chosen for the indoor climate simulations. The indoor temperature and air quality is simulated for the warmest and coldest day of the year. Different constructional changes, like added insulation and changed orientation of the house, are made and the effects on the indoor climate are presented and analyzed. The mean indoor operative temperature rose 5 °C in the chosen locations, Ghorepani and Dhulikhel, during the coldest winter day when insulation was added to the roof and outer walls and thermal bridges were improved. When adding two double glazed windows facing south the mean operative indoor temperature rose up to 10 °C the coldest winter day. Overall, the study shows that great improvements of the indoor thermal comfort in Nepalese houses can be achieved with the use of passive energy efficient building techniques.