Abstract:
Incorporating warm colours in the interiors of tropical uplands characterissed by a cold climatic condition, was hypothesised to help the
inhabitants to perceive the indoor thermal environment as comparatively warmer, compensating the heating costs to a considerable extent.
A preliminary field experiment was executed to investigate the impact of a warm colour (red - Cranberry Zing) and a cool colour (Duck egg
blue) on indoor thermal perception in tropical upland climate with reference to Thalawakele, Sri Lanka.
Substantiating the hypothesis, participants consistently perceived the red room to be comparatively warmer (90% - warm and 10% - slightly
warm) while the blue room was perceived to be even cooler by 93.5% (64.5% - cool/ 29% - slightly cool) and neutral by 6.5%. Ability of
red colour to induce a comparatively warm ‘perceived’ indoor thermal condition against the ‘real’ thermal condition in tropical upland climate
could be potentially developed as an alternative hybrid remedy for energy conservation.
