Thermal comfort in Iranian courtyard housing.

This thesis investigated thermal comfort for naturally ventilated housing in Iran
with special reference to Ilam. An important aim was to establish the neutral
temperature and the acceptable range of environmental conditions for Dam
people in their houses.
The methodology used for this aIm was field studies. These studies were
divided into two parts- one in the hot season and the other in the cool season.
The results showed a good relationship between neutral temperature and mean
indoor temperature and also between outdoor temperature and neutral
temperature.
The indoor comfort temperature (Tn), which is dependent on outdoor
temperature (Tom), could be found from the following equation:
Tn = 17.3 + 0.36 Tom
The findings of the study revealed that the Ilam people could achieve comfort at
higher indoor air temperatures compared with the recommendations by
international standards like ISO 7730.
The results also showed that passive systems as a main comfort strategy could
be applied to housing design in Ilam. By using the results of this study,
strategies to minimise housing energy consumption, not only for Ilam but also
for other regions, which have similar climates and cultures to Ilam, can be
proposed.