Impact assessment of climate change on thermal comfort in a naturally ventilated school

Objective: The objective underlying the present study was to assess the impact of climate change on the thermal performance of a naturally ventilated school building in an urban site in central London. Methods: First, the general regulatory framework was described and the current trends in the field of sustainable school design in the UK were investigated. Emergent themes in relation to sustainability issues were identified by the examination of recently built paradigms. The second part of the study adopted a case study approach. The current and theoretical environmental performance under a climate change scenario of the Haverstock Secondary School in Camden Town was studied. The methods used included monitoring of Dry Bulb Temperature ( C) and Relative Humidity (%), occupant questionnaire survey and thermal simulation by making use of computer modelling software. Results: The outcome of the field study suggested that the building suffers from overheating during summer. However, this could be attributed to wrong control system settings of the Monodraught windcatcher system. The simulation study demonstrated that the Building Bulletin 101 criteria against overheating can be met by a combination of rapid ventilation provided by manually controlled openings and temperature-dependent system controls of the windcatcher system