On the Influence of Shade in Improving Thermal Comfort in Courtyards

This study analyzes the thermal performance of courtyards in traditional buildings in the city center of Córdoba (South of Spain), one of them displaying a shading component, to determine the influence of this precise element. The courtyards have been monitored simultaneously during a summer period when temperatures during the day reached over 45 °C. The obtained data was contrasted, and we confirmed that the shading element provided an improvement of the thermal performance of the courtyard which doubled the thermal leap between outdoor and inside the courtyard temperatures when the shading element was installed, in comparison to the courtyard without shade. Therefore, the tempering effect of courtyards can be significantly improved by means of using these simple elements