Thermal comfort in building design: thinking ahead and taking lessons from East Africa, with Huda Elsherif (calfordsedan) and Andy Simmonds (AECB)

Zero Ambitions Podcast

In the midst of a weirdly warm October for this part of the work, we're talking about thermal comfort in building design with Huda Elsherif and Andy Simmonds about a project they've been collaborating on in Tanzania.

While the lessons we can learn from it might not be immediately obvious, there are plenty of them there to be had as our climate grows warmer. In terms of building design it's already clear that we should be thinking ahead, planning for today's needs and building with one eye on future adaptation.

Air conditioning is an incredibly convenient solution in the global north, but it's very fragile, and a reliance on it does not lead to an adequate supply of resilient building stock if we're designing for a climate with higher temperatures. The overuse of air condition has appalling implications when we consider its inefficient use of energy, implicit challenges in generating enough energy to meet demand (already a problem in California), and big problems down the line when buildings designed for air conditioning can't use it.

We also get to touch on cultural difference in building design and the impact that can have, wherever we are, the inadequacy of the assumptions made in standardised guidelines (i.e. the deficiencies in SAP or DEAP), and a few mosquito facts.

Notes from the show

• Huda's employer calfordsedan
• Huda Elsherif on LinkedIn
• Andy on LinkedIn
• Andy's own practice SimmondsMills
• Andy's own case study about the project in Tanzania

Retrofit Reimagined
If you're nearby, go! More Retrofit Reimagined 2023 is happening in Machynlleth (Centre for Alternative Technology, 21-22 October), and Glasgow (11 November).

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