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Procedia Environmental Sciences 23 (2015) 168 – 174

International Conference on Tropical and Coastal Region Eco-Development 2014(ICTCRED

2014)

The difference of thermal performance between houses with

wooden walls and exposed brick walls in tropical coasts
Hermawana,*, Eddy Priantob, Erni Setyowatic
a,*
Student of Architecture Doctoral Program, Diponegoro University Semarang and
Lecturer of Architecture Department Qur’anic Science University, Kalibeber Street Wonosobo, 56351, Indonesia
b
Head of Building Technology Laboratory, Architecture Department, Diponegoro University, Prof Soedarto Street, Semarang 50275, Indonesia
c
Lecturer of Architecture Department, Diponegoro University, Prof Soedarto Street, Semarang 50275, Indonesia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze differences between brick and wood houses related to the thermal comfort of the
occupants. The measurement results are compared with a test in the field. The results of measurements of thermal variables of the
formula’s Fanger show that eight houses with wooden walls have an average result of 1.01, meanwhile eight houses with exposed
bricks wall have an average result of 1.71. The results of field measurements indicate that occupants in houses with wooden walls
feel more comfortable than occupants in houses with exposed brick walls.
© 2015
© 2014The
TheAuthors.
Authors. Published
Published by Elsevier
by Elsevier B.V. B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of scientific committee of the ICTCRED 2014.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of scientific committee of the ICTCRED 2014
Keywords: thermal performance,brick houses,wooden house, tropical coasts, PMV, AMV

1. Introduction

As a warm and tropical region, Indonesia has some types of areas which are divided into low land and high
lands. Low land is divided into coastal areas and land. Low and high lands have different thermal profiles. The low
lands have a relatively hot temperature, while high lands have relatively cool temperatures. The difference makes
the type of houses various. Houses in coastal areas have three kinds of walls;plastered bricks, expose bricks, and
woods. Due to the economic condition of the people, majority is middle and ower class, the majority of houses in

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +628122806605; fax: +62286324160.

E-mail address:hermawanarsit@gmail.com

1878-0296 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of scientific committee of the ICTCRED 2014
doi:10.1016/j.proenv.2015.01.026
 Hermawan et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 23 (2015) 168 – 174 169

coastal areas have wood, and brick walls which are not plastered (expose brick). Houses are made to protect the
occupants and to create comfort for the residents. One of the comforts is thermal comfort. Thermal comfort is a
thought condition of someone’s which expresses his satisfaction on thermal environment [1]. Measurement of
thermal comfort can be done in several ways. One way to measure the thermal comfort is to use the theory of PMV
(Predicted Mean Vote) and AMV (Actual Mean Vote). Many researchers have used the PMV and AMV to measure
the thermal comfort of a building [2,3,4]. Although there were many experts who corrected PMV, it is considered as
the most complete theory of thermal comfort among others. This study aims to measure the thermal comfort using
the PMV and AMV and to compare the value of PMV and AMV to get the thermal performance of the two types of
houses in coastal areas.
PMV is the thermal equilibrium theory invented by Prof. O.L.E. Fanger in 1970 [5]. This theory assumes that
thermal comfort is influenced by six thermal variables, namely: air temperature Ta (Temperature), Wind Speed V
(Velocity), relative humidity (RH), the average radiation temperature (Tmrt), human activity, and Clothes. PMV has
been corrected by many researchers with many field studies. It has been found that there are many deviations from
PMV in other locations, especially in buildings with natural ventilations. This field study is known as AMV (Actual
Mean Vote). AMV is done by using a questionnaire that directly filed in field. The deviations of PMV from AMV is
due to the adaptive factor by occupants. Adaptive factors are factors outside of the 6 variable thermal comfort.
Sugini found adaptive psychological factors that influence these differences [6,7,8]. She conducted a research on
seven office buildings in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She found a perfect model of adaptive thermal which made PMV
perfect [9]. Beside Sugini, there are several adaptive models found in other countries. Singh found adaptive models
for houses in India [9]. Rijjal, Yoshida, and Umemiya found that the occupants in space between rooms, and inside
room have a higher neutral [10]. These adaptive models have long been proposed by several researchers including
Humphreys, De dear, Bragger, Nicol and several other researchers. Humphreys conducted a study of the theory of
adaptive thermal comfort in 1998. Adaptive thermal comfort is different from static thermal comfort (PMV). An
adaptive thermal comfort is theory based on the adaptation of the occupants and the occupants are considered as
subjects rather than objects of thermal comfort [11].
In determining thermal comfort performance, many researchers only based on physical measurement data.
Measurements were also no comparison between brick and wood houses. This study will analyze the subjective data
of the occupants as the basis for determining thermal performance as well as comparisons between brick and wood
houses.

Nomenclature

PMV Predicted Mean Vote

AMV Adaptive Mean Vote
RH Relative Humidity
V Velocity
Ta Air Temperature
Tmrt Mean Radiant Temperature
ASHRAE American Society for Heating Refrigeration Air-conditioning Engineers

2. Method

The studied houses were houses with wood and brick walls. It was located in the coastal area in Morosari
district, Demak regency, Central Java Indonesia. Collecting data by using physical measurement (thermal variables)
and taking the questionnaire. Measurement of thermal variables by using the temperature measuring tools (digital
thermometer), the temperature of solar radiation (globe temperature), measuring wind speed (digital anemometer)
and humidity (digital hygrometer) .Pengukuran conducted at 07.00 am until 5.00 pm.
The survey was conducted in 16 houses with a total of 126 sets of data. The data were obtained from the
occupants who were questioned through questionnaires three times at 07.00 am, 12.00 am and 5.00 pm. This time
represents the thermal type within a day. Thermal measurements were made every one hour for 4 variables:
170 Hermawan et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 23 (2015) 168 – 174

temperature radiation, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed. The measured points were the point in the
house (close to the occupant) and a point near the openings (doors or windows). Clothes variables were obtained
from clothes in the field converted to the value of clothes (clo) in Fanger, meanwhile the activity variables or
metabolisme were assessed based on the value when the occupant sitting and chatting.
The value of the six variables (temperature radiation, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, clothes and
metabolism) were included in the software of thermal PMV of the ASHRAE, thus it was obtained the value of PMV
of each data. In the ASHRAE there are 7 thermal sensation scales which include Cold (-3), Cool (-2), rather Cool (-
1), Neutral (0), Little Warm (+1), warm (+2), Heat ( +3). PMV value was compared with the value of AMV so that
it would be obtained the difference of thermal comfort value by using different theories, meanwhile the thermal
performance of each house was obtained by comparing AMV of ecah type of house. It was based on the reason that
a house which has good thermal performance was a house that can make occupants comfortable.

3. Results and Discussion

The four variable thermal data can be seen in the figure below. Figure 1 shows the result of temperature
measurement of the average of solar radiation (tmrt). Figure 2 shows the result of air temperature measurement (Ta).
Figure 3 shows the results of measurements of relative humidity (RH). Figure 4 shows the measurement result of
wind speed (V).
b
a 35 radiation temperature (oC)
35
radiation temperature (oC)

30 30
25 25
20
15 20
10 15
5 10
0
5

hour
hour
brick house 1 brick house 2
brick house 5 brick house 6
brick house 3 brick house 4
brick house 7 brick house 8
c 35 d 35
radiation temperature (oC)

30 30
radiation temperature (oC)

25 25
20 20
15 15
10 10
5 5
0 0

hour
hour
wooden houses 1 wooden houses 2 wooden houses 5 wooden houses 6
wooden houses 3 wooden houses 4 wooden houses 7 wooden houses 8

Fig.1. Temperatures average of solar radiation in wooden houses and exposed brick house in coastal areas; (a).radiation temperature of brick
house 1 until 4, (b).radiation temperature of brick house 5 until 8, (c).radiation temperature of wooden house 1 until 4, (d).radiation temperature
of wooden house 5 until 8.

From the data of radiation temperature, it can be seen that the average temperature of solar radiation (Tmrt)
for wooden houses ranged from 24.0 º C to 32.3 º C. The lowest temperature was obtained in a house with wooden
 Hermawan et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 23 (2015) 168 – 174 171

wall, meanwhile no houses with brick walls can reach the lowest level. Temperature of brick houses ranged from
25.4 º C to 31 º C. Average temperatures of solar radiation of the eight samples of wooden houses was 27.6 º C,
meanwhile the brick houses was 28.4 º C. Maximum temperature was obtained from the first sample of wooden
house. This phenomenon indicates that the radiation temperature in brick houses is higher than in wooden house in
coastal areas. From the eight samples, the fourth and eighth house looked to have almost the same temperature of
the radiation. From the analysis of the environmental conditions around the house, both houses have more shade
trees compared with the other houses. This condition makes the radiation which enter the house slightly reduced by
existing trees. This is consistent with the research results of Ratih, et all, that examined the influence of the vertical
garden in reducing the temperature of the building. The study proved the effect of trees in reducing the temperature
of the building. [12]

a 40 b 40

air temperature (oC)

air temperature (oC)

30 30

20 20

10 10

0 0

hour hour

brick house 5 brick house 6

brick house 1 brick house 2
brick house 7 brick house 8
brick house 3 brick house 4
d
c 40
40
35
air temperature (oC)

35
30
air temperature (oC)

30
25
25
20
20
15
15
10
10
5
5
0
0

hour hour

wooden houses 1 wooden houses 2 wooden houses 5 wooden houses 6

wooden houses 3 wooden houses 4 wooden houses 7 wooden houses 8

Fig 2.Temperature in wooden houses and exposed brick houses in coastal areas; (a).air temperature of brick house 1 until 4, (b).air temperature of
brick house 5 until 8, (c).air temperature of wooden house 1 until 4, (d).air temperature of wooden house 5 until 8.

From the figure 2, it looks that the air temperature (ta) is almost equal to the temperature of the average solar
radiation (tmrt). Temperatures in wooden house ranged from 25.5 º C to 34.4 º C with an average of 28.7 º C, lower
than temperatures of brick houses that have a temperature ranged from 26.1 º C to 32.7 º C with an average
temperature of 29.2 º C. The temperature of the fourth and eighth were lower than other houses. It is relevant with
the research of Sugini which proved that temperatures of average solar radiation (tmrt) is proportional to the air
temperature (Ta) [8].
172 Hermawan et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 23 (2015) 168 – 174

a b
100 90
80

relative humidity%
80 70
relative humidity %

60
60 50
40 40
30
20 20
10
0 0

hour hour
brick house 1 brick house 2 brick house 5 brick house 6
brick house 3 brick house 4 brick house 7 brick house 8

d
120 c 120
relative humidity %

100

relative humidity %
100
80 80
60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0

hour hour

wooden houses 5 wooden houses 6 wooden houses 1 wooden houses 2

wooden houses 3 wooden houses 4
wooden houses 7 wooden houses 8

Fig 3.Relative humidity in wooden houses and exposed brick houses in coastal areas; (a) relative humidity of brick house 1 until 4, b.relative
humidity of brick house 5 until 8, crelative humidity of wooden house 1 until 4, d.relative humidity of wooden house 5 until 8.

The results of measurements of relative humidity for wooden houses range from 92.8% to 95.9% with an
average relative humidity of 78.3%, meanwhile brick houses range between 62.7% -83.4% with an average of
75.7%. The relative humidity of wooden house is greater than the brick house. This is in contrast with the basic
material properties of wood, wooden houses dry faster (lower humidity) than brick houses. The results of this study
also do not correspond to the nature of wood drying [13]. The nature of the wood is porosity which cause moisture
to evaporate quickly, meanwhile brick has nature to hold water which cause humid. Humidity is not only influenced
by the material properties of the walls of the house, but also influenced by the nature of the material for other home
like flooring, ceiling and other materials. The differences in the results of this study occurs may be because wood
flooring materials in homes are mostly not covered (still ground). It makes the house more humid.
An exposed brick house is a house with brick wall which has been not plastered so it is not protected. From the
eight samples of wooden houses, fourth and eighth house are houses that have the highest humidity, meanwhile the
sample of brick houses, there are no samples which have humidity which are different from the others. All the
samples have almost the same relative humidity. This is relevant to the existence of more trees around the houses.
 Hermawan et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 23 (2015) 168 – 174 173

a 0.4 b 1.4
0.3 1.2

air velocity (m/s)

0.3 1.0
air velocity (m/s)

0.2 0.8
0.2 0.6
0.1 0.4
0.1 0.2
0.0 0.0

hour hour
brick house 1 brick house 2 brick house 5 brick house 6
brick house 3 brick house 4 brick house 7 brick house 8

c 0.8 d 0.8
0.7 0.7

air velocity (m/s)

air velocity (m/s)

0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
0.0 0.0

hour hour
wooden houses 5 wooden houses 6
wooden houses 1 wooden houses 2
wooden houses 7 wooden houses 8
wooden houses 3 wooden houses 4

Fig 4. Wind Speed in Wooden Houses and exposed brick houses; (a).air velocity of brick house 1 until 4, (b).air velocity of brick house 5 until 8,
(c).air velocity of wooden house 1 until 4, (d).air velocity of wooden house 5 until 8.

The results of measurements of wind speed show that wind speed of each sample both wooden houses and brick
houses are various. The wind speed ranges between 0.0 m/s to 1.2 m/s. Average of wind speed is 0.1 m / s for both
wood and brick houses. This occurs due to the location of the vents in each sample also vary so that the wind that
comes into the house also varies. Average wind gusts flows at 13:00 to 15:00 pm because at the time the sea wind
blows from the sea to the land [14]. Types of ventilation also affect the entry of air into the house. This is consistent
with the results of research conducted by Eddy Prianto who conducted research about the kinds of ventilation which
capture wind [15,16].
Data of clothing (clo) for residents in the wood and brick houses have the same average, 0.4 clo. Meanwhile the
data of activities, sitting and chatting have a metabolism value of 1.2 meth. Based on the results of the thermal
measurements of the six variables included in the PMV program of ASHRAE, it is obtained an average yield of 1.01
for the wooden houses, 1.71 for brick houses. Field study is assessed on a scale 7 of ASHRAE thermal sensation and
mentioned that the value of 1.01 belongs to the category of somewhat warm, while the value of 1.71 in the category
of approaching warm. Based on this assessment, it can be concluded that the wooden house is more comfortable
than a brick house based PMV value.
AMV value is the perception value of the occupants for comfort perceived. AMV value also uses a scale
value 7 of ASHRAE thermal sensation which is asked directly to the occupants. The results is that the average
values of AMV is 0.19 in wood houses and 0.93 for brick houses. This may imply that the occupants of the wooden
house feel approaching comfortable (comfort value is 0), while the occupants of brick houses feel rather warm
174 Hermawan et al. / Procedia Environmental Sciences 23 (2015) 168 – 174

(rather warm value of 1). The difference between PMV and AMV occur in both types of houses both wooden houses
and brick houses. This is what many other researchers stated; the PMV value can not be precise in predicting the
comfort of the occupants of the house the live. This is consistent with the concept of adaptation investigated by other
researchers [17,18]

4. Conclusions

The difference between the wooden houses and brick houses look not so big. Thermal performance of the
wooden house is better than brick houses. However, thermal performance of wooden houses can’t be said
successfully because they have not made the occupants comfortable. PMV values are different from the results of
AMV. They stated that the PMV is less suitable for naturally ventilated buildings.In addition, other researchers also
said that the PMV is less suitable in the tropics due to environmental adaptation of the occupants who are included
into the assessment of thermal comfort. Occupants in the tropics can adapt high temperatures so that thermal
comfort assessment with AMV is lower than the value of PMV.

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