Designing of a Thai Bio-Climatic Roof

This paper presents an innovative roof design. The roof is designed in response to the Tropical climate of Thailand with respect to human thermal comfort. It is composed of a combination of CPAC Monier concrete and transparent tiles on the outer side, air gap and another combination of gypsum with aluminum foil board and translucent sheets on the house side. It has two functions in operation: In daytime the roof acts as a solar chimney and induces natural ventilation. The transparent tile provides not only sufficient daylight for housing but also help in increasing the ventilation rate. In nighttime, the Thai bio-climatic roof plays the role of a roof radiator to dissipate the heat accumulated during daytime by long-wave radiation to the sky dome. The roof surface temperature decreases below ambient in several degree celcius. The cool air located between the two sides of roof flows downward providing nocturnal cooling.