Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 887–893 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Energy and Buildings journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enbuild Evaluating thermal effects of internal courtyard in a tropical terrace house by computational simulation Nasibeh Sadafi a,∗ , Elias Salleh a , Lim Chin Haw b , Zaky Jaafar a a Department of Architecture, Faculty of Design and Architecture, University Putra, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor DE, Malaysia b Solar Energy Research Institute, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia article info Article history: Received 8 October 2010 Accepted 7 December 2010 Keywords: Thermal comfort Terrace house Internal courtyard Heat gain Tropical climate abstract Thermal comfort conditions in residential buildings vary according to the designs, modifications of the house and adaptations of the occupants. The purpose of this paper is to examine thermal performance of terrace housing in tropical climate by exploiting internal courtyard. A case study of a terrace house was chosen, where field measurement was conducted during a three-day recording in naturally ventilated spaces of the house. Results from field measurement were used to develop a baseline model for compu- tational experiment. Subsequently, the effects of introducing an internal courtyard on thermal comfort performance of the building were investigated using ECOTECT software. The results from simulation analysis indicate that, applying internal courtyard in the terrace house will improve natural ventilation and thermal comfort in spaces with openings to the outside environment. It shows that the influence of the internal courtyard on the thermal condition has a strong reliance on the envelop openings. This study suggests that the internal courtyard of a terrace house can affect improvements in thermal conditions of the courtyard’s surrounding spaces, provided sufficient and efficient openings with shading devices are suitably incorporated. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The concerns over global warming and need for reduction of high emission of greenhouse gases, demand the utilization of strategies for indoor climate modification in promoting comfort- able indoor environment [1]. In warm humid tropics overheated building interior are common due to solar penetration through the building envelope and windows, and lack of ventilation [2]. Terrace houses, as one of the most common typologies of resi- dential buildings in Malaysia, are also faced with these problems. Because of the high density of the building blocks and the crowded dwellings, a large number of buildings do not fulfill the require- ments for thermally comfortable environment. Several studies have been undertaken by researchers in tropical climates in relation to thermal comfort in residential buildings [3,4], in which the main scope of the studies was to find the neutral temperature appropri- ate to the warm-humid climate. Findings revealed a higher comfort temperature exists in comparison with those recommended by international standards, whereby in naturally ventilated build- ings the upper range of comfort can be stretched with the aid of ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: nsadafi@gmail.com (N. Sadafi), elsall06@gmail.com (E. Salleh), chinhaw.lim@gmail.com (L.C. Haw), zakyjaafar@yahoo.com (Z. Jaafar). higher natural air movement. Many bioclimatic design strategies for improving the natural ventilation have been proposed in differ- ent studies and some of them are also used in practice [5]. One of the suggested strategies is to include internal courtyard in the house in order to optimize the climatic source according to its thermal mass effects. On the other hand, solar radiation which is received by the courtyard surfaces will affect the thermal performance of the inter- nal spaces especially in areas adjacent to the courtyard. The amount of heat gain through radiation depends on climatic conditions, the time of the year and configuration of the courtyard [6]. Courtyards are commonly used in terrace houses in Malaysia to provide ventilation and/or natural lighting to interior rooms. The same principle has been used in many traditional urban shop houses, mostly found in Malacca and Penang. So far, thermal per- formance of courtyard building has been investigated by several researchers [2,7–9]. These studies have mainly evaluated detached buildings, such as bungalows, where there is no limitation of land size and opening. Therefore, this study is intended to investigate the influence and effectiveness of internal courtyard on thermal performance of terrace houses in a warm-humid climate, in order to explore its advantages and to offer recommendations. The two main objectives of the current research are as follows: (1) To investigate the thermal performance of an existing terrace house under warm-humid climate. 0378-7788/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.12.009