A comparative study of human aspects in acclimatization of adobe vernacular architecture: A case from Denmark and Egypt

Abstract

Today’s architecture swarms with concepts of energy and resource efficient buildings. In contrast, vernacular buildings are characterized by low-tech climatic responsive strategies and by their inhabitants’ resource and energy savings practices during construction and operation of their dwellings. That makes vernacular buildings highly relevant to resource efficiency in contemporary building research. The main focus of this study is to explore and analyse human behaviour to reach responsive and conscious resource efficient solutions in two different climatic context; in Egypt and Denmark. The aim is to suggest sustainable principles out of human conduct for contemporary resource efficient building practice. Though Danish and Egyptian climates and cultures are very different from each other some human approaches to sustainability appeared to be similar. That was evident through a comparative analytical study applying case-study methodology for two courtyard adobe dwellings; one in each country. The paper contributes to existing vernacular sustainable building studies by filling a knowledge gap on how human factors is a key parameter in acclimatization in buildings and how that can influence resource efficient building practice.