Climate-specific design of tropical housing and buildings (Garissa) Kenya

Abstract

Analyses have been done on the climatic data to obtain physical building design specifications for climatic conditions found in the remote tropical rural and urban centre of Garissa. The main aim is to provide general and appropriate information at strategic pre-design stages to make better use of passive solar energy in urban planning and building design for better indoor “comfort” climate. It utilizes a computer program, ARCHIPAK (Architectural Package), together with climatic data (for 8 year period) to get "comfort zones", and "control potential zones". The use of the control potential zones (CPZs) in buildings and the objectives of the pre-design guidelines are discussed for Garissa and its neighbourhood. Opportunities and limitations of the pre-design guidelines are discussed.


Keywords:Climatic design, Solar energy, Passive architecture, Thermal comfort, Human comfort, ARCHIPAK, Garissa, Kenya.


Botswana Journal of Technology Vol.13(1) 2004: 34-44