Climatic Zone: Hot and Dry

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Solar passive hostel, Jodhpur

Climatic Zone: Hot and Dry

Solar passive hostel, Jodhpur
A sol ar passive buildi ng for the hot and dry climate

General description

The sol ar hostel was put up as part of the research project undertaken
by the Centre of Energy Studi es, Indi an Insti tute of Technol ogy, Del hi .
Al though energy conservati on was stated as the objecti ve, the desi gn
attempted to test and demonstrate sui tabl e methods of provi di ng
thermal comfort i n the hot and dry cl i mate of Rajasthan.

Design features

Architectural design
The bui l di ng had to be desi gned to house 14 doubl e room sui tes
for marri ed students.
The two-storeyed bui l di ng has seven sui tes on the ground fl oor
and seven sui tes on the fi rst fl oor. Each sui te i s provi ded wi th a
toi l et (about 4 m fl oor area), one l obby, and a smal l courtyard.
The ground fl oor that has seven doubl e rooms i s parti al l y sunk
i nto the ground to take advantage of the earths thermal storage
and i nsul ati on effect.
The wi nd tower, erected over the l obby of the fi rst fl oor, i s
connected to the ground fl oor through the stai rcase and suppl i es
cool ai r to the seven uni ts. The hot room ai r exi ts by means of
smal l er chi mneys over each room.

Materials and methods of construction

The protecti on of the roof and i ts treatment i s i mportant because
i t i s a major source of summer heat gai n. The roof has been
i nsul ated by provi di ng smal l i nverted terracotta pots over the
stone sl abs and fi ll i ng up the i nterveni ng spaces wi th l i me
concrete.
Climatic Zone: Hot and Dry

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Solar passive hostel, Jodhpur

Stone masonry has been used for wal l s because i t i s a l ocal
materi al and can provi de good thermal mass to bal ance out
di urnal temperature vari ati ons. The wal l thi ckness vari es from
0.30 m to 0.45 m.
The wi nd tower hel ps to venti l ate the heat out of the room
duri ng l ate eveni ngs and ni ghts.
The desi gn of the bui l di ng has a set of rooms parti al l y
underground. Thi s di d not pose any major constructi on probl ems
i n Jodhpur because of i ts l ow water l evel . Toi l ets were al so
pl aced at the same l evel as these can be drai ned to the sewage
system or decomposi ti on tank/pi t as the case may be. The
parti all y underground configurati on has a moderating influence
on the temperatures, reducing the sol ar heat gain on the wal ls
and cool ing li ke a basement.
For thi s bui l di ng, an improved desi gn of wind tower was made
with bui lt-i n evaporative cool ing to l ower temperatures. The
hi gher rates of ai rfl ow and the evaporati ve capaci ty of the new
wi nd tower can be full y uti li zed at ni ght i n summer to cool the
buil di ng mass to l ower temperatures.
Passive solar design
The ai r bei ng very dry, evaporati ve cool i ng i n summer can prove to be
very effecti ve i n Jodhpur. Unfortunatel y, as water i s a scarce
commodi ty i n summer i n Jodhpur, any system that depends upon water
for cool i ng i s bound to fai l .
The desi gn, therefore, uses a favourabl e ori entati on, a massi ve
structure, and an ai r gap i n the roof for i nsul ati on, refl ecti ve external
fi ni shes, deep sunshades, and fi nal l y a wi nd tower for maki ng use of
the cool wi nds. An experi mental evaporati ve cool i ng system usi ng
wi res for water di stri buti on has al so been i nstal l ed on the wi nd tower.
Wind tower
The prevailing direction for cool winds in Jodhpur is the south-west.
Window apertures are difficult to provide in this orientation, as it is the
least favourable from the point of view of solar radiation.
Climatic Zone: Hot and Dry

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Solar passive hostel, Jodhpur

To overcome this problem, a wind tower concept was used. The tower
facing the wind direction has been located over the staircase, thus
minimizing costs. Cool air is provided to each room from this tower and
normal windows or smaller shafts (towers) facing the lee of the wind have
been provided to distribute the cool air throughout the building. The tower
catches only the cool wind from the south-west, avoiding warmer air from
other directions.
Roof insulation
The most commonl y used bui l di ng materi al i n Jodhpur i s stone
sourced l ocal l y. Bl ocks of thi s l i ght-col oured stone have been
used for walls in the building. Large slabs of stone have been used for the
roofing, staircases, partitions, and lintels over windows.
The roof has been insulated by providing small inverted terracotta pots
over the stone slabs and filling up the intervening spaces with lime
concrete. Since very few manufactured materials have been used, this is
a low embodied energy building.
Window design
Si nce the uni versi ty i s normal l y on vacati on duri ng the worst
summer months, wi nter comfort i s as i mportant as summer
comfort. South-faci ng wi ndows have been provi ded i n most of
the rooms.
To prevent heat l oss duri ng ni ght, sol i d timber shutters have
been provi ded i n addi ti on to gl ass ones.
Performance
The resul ts of moni tori ng i n vari ous rooms of the hostel show
that i nternal temperature remai ns nearl y constant around the
day wi thout much fl uctuati on on a typi cal summer and wi nter
day, whi l e the ambi ent temperature has a l arge di urnal vari ati on.

Climatic Zone: Hot and Dry

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Solar passive hostel, Jodhpur

At a glance
Project details
Project description Hostel containing 14 suites for married students,
located at Jodhpur
Architect Vinod Gupta
Space Design Consul tants
K-38 Jungpura Extension
New Del hi - 110 014
Energy consultants N K Bansal and M S Sodha
Project completion 1984
Client/owner University of Jodhpur
Installed renewable energy system A common bank of sol ar water
heaters has been instal led to meet all hot water requirements.

Design features
o Favourable orientation
o Low embodied energy by making minimal use of manufactured
materials
o Heavy construction to bal ance out diurnal temperature variation
o Roof insul ati on by air gap
o Light-coloured building to reflect heat
o Wind tower with evaporative cooli ng for summer cooling
o Buildi ng partially sunken to moderate internal temperature
o South-faci ng window with deep sunshades to cut off summer
sun and to let in wi nter sun
o Solid timber shutters in addition to glass shutters to prevent
heat loss during wi nter nights.