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Climate Resilient Low-Income Tropical Housing

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Hashemi, Arman 

Abstract

Located in East Africa, Uganda is one of the most economically deprived countries that is likely to be dramatically affected by climate change. Over 50% of Ugandan families live in single-roomed overcrowded properties and over 60% of the country’s urban population live in slums. Moreover, the gradual shift towards relatively modern and low thermal resistance building materials, in addition to imminent thermal discomfort due to global warming, may considerably affect the health and wellbeing of low-income people, the majority of whom live in low quality homes with very little or no access to basic amenities. This paper evaluates the effects of various construction methods as well as refurbishment strategies on thermal comfort in low-income houses in Uganda. It is aimed at helping low-income populations adapt to climate changes by developing simple, effective and affordable refurbishment strategies that could easily be applied to existing buildings. Dynamic thermal simulations are conducted in EnergyPlus. The adaptive model defined in BS EN 15251 and CIBSE TM52 is used to evaluate the risk and extent of thermal discomfort. Roofing methods/materials are found to be the key factor in reducing/increasing the risk of overheating. According to the results, roof insulation, painting the roof with low solar absorptance materials and inclusion of false ceilings are, respectively, the most effective and practical refurbishment strategies in terms of improving thermal comfort in low-income houses in Uganda. All refurbishment strategies helped to pass Criterion 3 of CIBSE TM52, as an indicator of “future climate scenarios”, making low-income houses/populations more climate resilient.

Description

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from MDPI at http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en9060468.

Keywords

thermal comfort, climate change, resilience, refurbishment, low-income, tropical, housing, Uganda, Africa

Journal Title

Energies

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1996-1073
1996-1073

Volume Title

9

Publisher

MDPI AG
Sponsorship
This document is an output from a research project “Energy and Low-Income Tropical Housing” co-funded by UK aid from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) and the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of DFID, EPSRC or DECC.