Abstract

Aiming to create a “passive architectural culture” for decarbonization among urban dwellers in emerging and developing countries in monsoon Asia, this study will analyze factors affecting occupant well-being and energy consumption in the study site, India. The study will also investigate actual living environments and behaviors, and consider how to simultaneously satisfy “thermal comfort and health,” “energy efficiency and decarbonization,” and “well-being and quality of life.”

Why do this study?

Currently, most growing countries and cities are situated in Africa and Asia, particularly in the tropical regions. It is therefore crucial to achieve zero-carbon societies in these tropical regions. In these growing cities, middle classes are on the rise and urban houses experience a dramatic shift from open-design, traditional passive houses to enclosed, airconditioned contemporary ones. This shift leads to rapid increases in energy consumption for space cooling in these regions.

Results

What we want to do

This study aims to create a new passive architectural culture, where people naturally prefer passive lifestyle without relying on mechanical means such as air-conditioning. First, we conduct surveys on well-being in New Delhi and Kharagpur, India. Second, we conduct field investigations in the same cities to understand their current living environments as well as lifestyle in urban houses. Based on the results, we attempt to find the ways to harmonize “thermal comfort and health,” “energy-saving and low-carbon,” and “improvement of well-being and QoL (quality of life)” simultaneously among the urban residents.

Member

Research schedule