Occupant Interaction With External Shading System In Residential Buildings Of Ahmedabad (2021)
Authors: Snowy Christophel S, Minu Agarwal, Rajan Rawal Abstract:
As per the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) during the last two decades heat waves accounted for 5.6% of the all the disaster related global fatalities. Several cities have established heat wave management task forces that warn and prepare people for upcoming heat waves by various mitigation strategies and advisories. With rising average temperature, occupant controlled passive design measures such as external movable shades can serve as resilience measures to improve indoor thermal environment under extreme heat. However, their effectiveness in doing so is highly dependent on timely deployment by the building occupants. This study focusses on understanding the occupant behaviour in operating external movable bamboo roller shades installed in balcony projections of residential buildings in Ahmedabad, India (hot and dry climate zone). The study was carried out during February and March of 2021 at four mid-rise residential buildings. The position of shades for each façade were recorded daily to examine the activity levels of the occupants. 65% occupants were found to be non-users, that is, they did not operate the shades during the entire observation period. Among the occupants that did choose to operate the shades (14% active and 21% passive users), outdoor temperature, sun exposure duration and solar radiation incident on the façade were found to have significant effect on the occlusion rates. The high percentage of non-users, while based on observations under moderate weather conditions raises questions whether passive design measures could be used reliably by occupants to improve indoor conditions under adverse weather conditions in an effective manner. At the same time users’ behaviour in terms of occlusion rates (degree of shade closure) was found to be affected by weather and sun exposure related variables.
Supported by:
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Govt. of India, Gujarat Energy Development Agency, U.S. Agency for International Development iNDEXTb (Industrial Extension Bureau) Govt. of Gujarat, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, New Delhi
