Impact of Landscape Elements on Microclimate in Urban Courtyard of Dhaka

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, many homes in the historic district of Dhaka were constructed with large courtyards that serve as social gathering places.To revive the old tradition and climatic comfort modern buildings especially single family houses in Dhaka city are been designed with courtyards. Though tree is the most common landscape element, few other elements such as water body, grass lawn or concrete pavement are also being used by the architects for these urban courtyards. In order to understand the impact of these elements on urban courtyard’s microclimate, comparative analysis has been carried out for four landscape elements i.e.- tropical tree, grass lawn, water body and concrete pavement in an urban courtyard of Dhaka. Physical measurement and the CFD simulation software ENVI-Met 5.1.1 has been used for the study in measuring the temperature and relative humidity for each scenario in a typical summer day. The study found that tree and water features play crucial role in reducing temperature and increasing humidity levels. On the other hand, rest of the elements impact only on surface temperature resulting less effects on microclimate to feel comfortable.