Designing dwellings to cope with extreme heat in low-income communities

Designing effective passive cooling interventions for dwellings in low-income communities exposed to tropical climates is vital to ensure occupant health and comfort in a warming climate. More knowledge is needed, however, on which interventions would be culturally acceptable, affordable, and effective in reducing high indoor temperatures. Four experimental buildings were built in Ghana to evaluate such interventions. Their initial design was based on a typical home for low-income urban residents in northern Ghana. A multi-disciplinary team contributed to the design and the proposed cooling interventions. Using dynamic thermal simulation, engineers predicted indoor temperatures for different construction materials, shading, and ventilation strategies. Social scientists provided input on the cultural acceptability of the proposed designs. The study showed how simple interventions can achieve worthwhile reductions in indoor temperature. In future work, the dynamic thermal models will be calibrated using data collected inside the real experimental buildings.