Energy and Buildings 81 (2014) 227–242

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Climate responsive building design strategies of vernacular

architecture in Nepal
Susanne Bodach a,∗ , Werner Lang a , Johannes Hamhaber c
a
Institute of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building, Technische Universität München (TUM), Germany
c
Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics, Cologne University of Applied Sciences,
Betzdorfer Straße 2, 50679 Cologne, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Vernacular architecture is the result of hundreds of years of optimization to provide a comfortable shelter
Received 11 January 2014 in a local climate using available materials and known construction technologies. Due to the absence of
Received in revised form 15 April 2014 mechanical means, traditional buildings use solar passive measures to achieve thermal comfort condi-
Accepted 14 June 2014
tions. In most developing countries it can be observed that with the modernization of the building sector
Available online 23 June 2014
this traditional knowledge of smart and climate responsive design is being lost. Instead the modern build-
ing design is dominated by universal architecture that neglects local climate conditions and traditional
Keywords:
construction techniques and materials. This paper reviews examples of vernacular architecture and its
Vernacular architecture
Nepal
building elements in Nepal and analyses in a qualitative manner which bioclimatic design strategies were
Bioclimatic design applied.
Climate responsive building design © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Developing country
Traditional building techniques

1. Introduction sun and wind [3–7]. Several studies have proven that better thermal
performance can be achieved by passive measures in vernacular
Worldwide around 40% of energy is consumed in buildings [1]. architecture [6–9]. The developing world’s construction practices
Due to population growth, increased urbanization and improve- until recently were basically grounded onto this knowledge of
ments of living standards most of energy consuming buildings traditional building techniques. However, modernization together
will be located in the urban centers of the developing world. The with the need of effective and fast provision of shelters for the
depletion of energy resources and the risk of climate change are increasing population has flooded the market with new building
demanding for a sustainable development path based on renew- designs, technologies and materials. These are rapidly accepted by
able energies and energy efficiency [2]. Climate responsive or solar users who demand for such designs and express increased ther-
passive building design can play a significant role in reducing the mal comfort expectations. The group of new building professionals
energy demand of buildings without compromising modern living does often apply new designs without considering local climate
standards. conditions.
The most important function of buildings is to provide shelter Consequently, traditional houses are disappearing and the
with appropriate thermal and visual indoor comfort for its occu- knowledge about its construction practices is slowly forgotten.
pants. The comfort level in a building depends upon the designs Therefore, the need to document this knowledge of traditional
in combination with the outdoor climate. Design irrespective to constructions practices is evident. Few studies [10–12] have ana-
climatic conditions means either to create uncomfortable indoor lyzed vernacular architecture from specific locations of Nepal
environments or to increase the need for maintaining thermal in regard to climate responsiveness. This research is the first
comfort through artificial means. As our ancestors had fewer tech- comprehensive study on solar passive design features of a large
nologies available for heating and cooling, vernacular houses are number of vernacular houses from all over the country. Fol-
mainly designed to optimize the use of natural resources like the lowing the principle “Learning from the past” [13], it might be
the groundwork to develop new and more sustainable design
strategies for the fast growing building sector that consider
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 32221782489. the local climatic conditions while aiming at the reduction
E-mail addresses: [Link]@[Link] (S. Bodach), [Link]@[Link] of energy-intensive and expensive artificial means to provide
(W. Lang), [Link]@[Link] (J. Hamhaber). comfort.

[Link]
0378-7788/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
228 S. Bodach et al. / Energy and Buildings 81 (2014) 227–242

2. Methodology and structure

Besides the climatic variations in Nepal, diversity of culture has

led to a large range of different architectural expressions that are
mostly documented by anthropologists, ethnologists and architects
[14–21]. This research is based on a literature review and field
research in Nepal.
In a first step, the paper gives an overview of the research
country Nepal focusing on aspects that are most relevant for the
development of vernacular architecture such as cultural and geo-
graphical diversity, local materials and climate.
Secondly, the climate conditions in Nepal are investigated, based
on climate data from four weather stations that are representing the
most important climatic zones of the country. The study identifies
the dominating bioclimatic design strategies for the four predom-
inating climates using three tools: Olgyay’s bioclimatic chart [3], Fig. 1. Physiographic regions of Nepal
Givoni’s psychrometric chart [4] and Mahoney Table [5]. Olgyay’s Adapted from [38].
bioclimatic chart is based on the outdoor climate factors consid-
ering humidity versus temperature [3]. Monthly data of minimum
and maximum relative humidity and temperature are plotted onto
the chart for each month. If the plotted line falls within the com- Altitude reaches from 65 m.a.s.l. (meters above sea level) to
fort zone, conditions are comfortable in the shade and in still air. If 8848 m.a.s.l. at the Mount Everest, the highest summit of the world.
the line falls partly or totally outside of the comfort zone, correc- This is leading to a variety of climatic and vegetation zones. Climate
tive measures are necessary such as the use of solar radiation, air has also strongly influenced the traditional architectures. Further-
movement or evaporative cooling [3]. Givoni uses the psychromet- more, Nepal’s population is composed of a large number of different
ric chart for the bioclimatic analysis [4]. A psychrometric chart is a ethnic groups as a result of successive migration of Tibeto-Burman
graph of the thermodynamic parameters of moist air at a constant people from the north-east and Indo-Aryans from the south-west
pressure. Givoni’s chart predicts the comfort conditions within the [24]. Each ethnic group has its own culture, religious beliefs as
building based on outside climate factor. As in Olgyay’s chart the well as traditions, and in most cases, also language. Geographi-
combination of monthly temperature and relative humidity indi- cal diversity has resulted in diverse socio-economic and cultural
cates the recommended passive design strategy for each month. patterns and, thus, in a variety of different architectural expres-
The chart contains the comfort zone, marked by a solid line and sions. Typical houses of a number of ethnic groups (Tharu, Limbu,
several zones for passive design strategies, namely passive solar Newar, Sherpa, Tamang, Thakali, etc.) are analyzed within this
heating, humidification, evaporative cooling, natural ventilation, study.
and high thermal mass [4]. The Mahoney Table methodology is a
set of reference tables that use monthly climate data of temper- 3.2. Traditional building materials
ature, relative humidity and precipitation to calculate indicators
for heat and cold stress as well as humid and arid conditions for The local availability of certain building materials, in particular
each month. The combination of these indicators results into sim- mineral based materials, depends on the geology of the location.
ple design recommendation, e.g. “reduce sun exposure”, “compact Due to the geodynamic process in the Himalayan region Nepal’s
building layout’ or “medium sized openings” [5]. geology has a high complexity of many thrusting, faulting, fold-
In the third step, this research analyses a variety of ver- ing and metamorphic effects. Nepal is divided into five distinct
nacular houses in Nepal, located in different climatic zones, in morpho-geotectonic zones from south to north: the Tarai Tectonic
respect to their design and construction in order to determine Zone, the Churia Zone (also called: Siwalik), the Lesser Himalayan
the applied climate-responsive design strategies. For the analysis Zone, the Higher Himalayan Zone and the Tibetan Tethyan Zone
of traditional housing the approach of [22,23] was adapted. Both [25]. These five zones compromise a total number of eight geomor-
studies use a set of building features to analyze the design and phic units which lead to different kind of available materials for
construction techniques of the vernacular buildings in regard to building construction (Table 1). On the other hand climatic condi-
climate-responsiveness. This research has selected the following tions determine the typical vegetation in a region and, thus, the
features to assess the vernacular houses of Nepal in a qualitative availability of organic building materials like wood.
manner: settlement pattern, building form and orientation, build- The Tarai Region’s geology is mainly characterized by coarse,
ing stories and internal space arrangement, design and construction gravel, and finer sediments. Rich fertile alluvial soil is the basis
materials of walls, roof, foundation, floors, ceilings and openings. for fertile agricultural land and dense Sal forest. Therefore, tradi-
Concluding, the study compares the design strategies identified tionally abundant reserves of wood, thatch, and further biogenic
in the second step based on bioclimatic approach with the actu- material as well as mud and sand are locally available for house
ally applied strategies in the vernacular houses aiming to prove the construction.
hypothesis that traditional houses are very much adapted to the In the Hilly Region of Nepal more stones (schist, phyllite, gneiss,
local climate conditions. granite, limestone and slate) are available and used as construction
material. In larger valleys like Kathmandu lacustrine soil deposits
are used for brick making. Sand and gravel is available from the
3. Research region riverbeds. Dense vegetation in the form of Sal or hill forests lead
to the wide availability of timber. Fertile land and favorable cli-
3.1. Geographical diversity mate conditions allow for the production of other vegetation based
building materials like thatch.
Nepal’s territory expands about 800 km east–west and 200 km The Himalayan Mountain Region provides abundant resources
north–south and displays a highly varying topography (Fig. 1). of stones, rocks and mud. Due to the small availability of fertile land