Abstract:
One of the primary objectives of the building designer should be to ensure that the built
environment is thermally comfortable to its occupants, possibly throughout the day and round
the year. Therefore, this should receive sufficient attention from the very beginning: a good
thermal design is started during the sketch design stage. In Sri Lanka designers and builders
pay little attention to the thermal aspects of structural elements. In high altitudes of Sri Lanka
such as about 1500 m above the mean sea level (i.e. tropical uplands), there is indoor thermal
discomfort due to low temperatures that occur during the night. Thus, there could be a
tendency to use heating, specially using electric heaters. However, this is not a desirable
situation since Sri Lanka is presently facing a serious energy crisis.
