Thermal Comfort Temperature Standards and Heating Degree Days for buildings in western Himalayan Village Sapni, District Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh
Abstract
The high altitude regions of Himachal Himalayas are mainly comprised of Districts of Kinnaur, Lahaul & Spiti, Chamba, Kullu and parts of District Kangra, Shimla and Sirmour. The region above 3000 Meters above mean sea level remain under snow for about 6-7 months in a year. Most of these areas receive about 5 to 7 feet of snow on annual basis. Such harsh cold climatic conditions have made the life of local residents difficult. In such circumstances the buildings require a lot of energy or heating degree days for space heating and making the indoors comfortable. It has been observed that the local inhabitants have developed a climate responsive vernacular architectural style. The traditional buildings are built up using locally available energy efficient materials like mud, stone, and wood. The houses have been oriented in such a way so as to have maximum solar exposure to gain solar heat throughout the day. The stone walls are massive and act as capacitive insulation which releases the heat indoors during night. The local materials have been used with aesthetic building designs. Hence the houses are not only comfortable but are a subject of art which looks beautiful in blend with natural beauty of mountains. Such traditional buildings are reported to require lesser energy or less heating degree days as compared to cement concrete buildings. The present paper describes an approach to define a new thermal comfort base temperature of 13.8oC in place of old thermal comfort base temperature of 18.3oC for calculation of heating demand of buildings in high altitude western Himalayan regions of Himachal Pradesh.
