Performance of mud houses and contentment in Sri Lankan context

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, "mud wall construction" has an enormous history, which spans covering wide range, however this was gradually rejecting, with the replacement of new building materials. Therefore, it is important to bring the ancient technology with new improvements to outfit the modern needs of sustainable design. This research was undertaken to study the thermal performance of local mud house in two major climatic zones; wet and dry in Sri Lanka, together with the occupant's satisfaction of living in such houses. indoor conditions; temperature and relative humidity of these houses were compared with the results obtained from the questionnaire survey carried out with occupants' of mud houses. With compared to the | climate throughout the year and with the occupant's experience, mud houses are more suitable and reliable in dry zone than wet zone, since mud houses provide more effective thermally comfortable indoor • environment and less practiced issues in dry zone. Therefore, by improving remedies for existing failures in planning and construction methodologies of mud houses, more physical and mental comtort can be achieved and mud house can be introduced as a tremendous invention towards sustainable built environment, especially within hot and dry climate of Sri Lanka.