Fossil fuel reliant housing in Nigeria: Physio-climatic regionalism as an energy/cost efficient perspective to providing thermal comfort

Abstract

The study investigates trends in housing design in Nigeria and assesses the degree of adherence to thermal comfort requirement. It reveals that building designs mostly reflect uniformity despite the variety of climatic conditions in Nigeria. This is shown from the results of a survey and statistical analysis of the distribution of external thermal design features, including roofing, cladding, openings, shading, and layout and landscaping, for 1000 houses at sample locations in the three climatic regions of Nigeria. The analytical outcome shows the close similarity in housing designs between disparate climatic regions and the predominant typology of design features. The study further evaluates meteorological data, using the Oligyay Bioclimatic Chart developed in the 1950s, to approximate the average thermal comfort requirements for the regional climatic sequences of the hot-dry north, dry sub-humid middle belt and warm humid south of Nigeria, with Kano, Minna and Port Harcourt used as reference points of comparisons. The outcome of the analysis shows that a greater percentage of urban houses in Nigeria do not portray the regional comfort characteristics required for thermal comfort, which may account for the wasteful reliance on the use of fossil-fuelled generators in buildings for house cooling.