Appraisal of traditional built form of bikaner: climatic design strategies and sustainability

Abstract

The increasing consumption of energy has led to environmental pollution resulting in global warming and ozone layer depletion. Therefore to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, caused by fossil fuels to power the cooling requirement of the buildings, it has stimulated the interest towards exploring climate conscious architecture. The traditional houses of Bikaner, a town in India’s desert region are climate responsive which have evolved from centuries of experience and observations of climate and nature. These buildings, therefore, can be studied as models of environmentally responsive and sustainable architecture. This paper evaluates specific traditional architecture of Bikaner and their response to climate, especially the natural cooling systems in hot and dry climate, which can be adapted to current architectural practice in the region, in order to optimize the relationship between site, building and climate. The methodology adopted in the research is through qualitative analysis. The objective of this paper is firstly to determine various climate responsive passive design features that have been employed in the traditional architecture of Bikaner, secondly how successful these features are in moderating the thermal environment in the traditional houses.