Solar Passive Features of the Heritage Building: the Case of the Gohar Mahal, Bhopal

Abstract

The heritage buildings are examples of a sensitive approach to energy consciousness for indoor comfort conditions, by using solar passive techniques in the building. The study case taken in to account is the Gohar Mahal-a Heritage building of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. The building was built in 1820 by Gohar Begum the first women ruler of Bhopal .The inbuilt passive concepts applied by our ancestors to this  Gohar Mahal, a palace besides Bhopal upper lake are analyse by taking all the solar passive elements. This study demonstrated that the thermal mass and building envelope of this structure mainly affect the indoor microclimate, stabilizing the inside temperatures and thus give the thermal comfort. The results of the measurements taken in summer and winter confirmed that the seasonal thermal storage of these structures allows comfortable temperatures. during the summer season, with values below 26°C, and stabilizes the indoor temperatures during the winter season.

Keywords: thermal comfort, solar passive techniques, indoor temperature, heritage building, microclimate.