The Nuances Between Microclimate, Thermal Comfort, and Daylight Studies on Medium Density Houses; A Systematic Literature Review

Deependra Pourel¹, Amirhossein Ghaffarianhoseini¹, Ali Ghaffarianhoseini¹, Nicola Naismith¹

1. Auckland University of Technology

Published in Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024), edited by Ali GhaffarianHoseini, Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, Farzad Rahimian and Mahesh Babu Purushothaman. Springer Nature, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, volume 591, 2025, pages 1505 to 1514. DOI 10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_143.

Abstract

Thermal and daylight comfort are key considerations that support health and wellbeing in the housing sector. Context creates a microclimate. Interventions for improvement against one of these three aspects impact the other wholly or in parts. This interrelationship is not widely researched in the medium density housing sector. The medium-density housing is a response to accommodate the growing population using a balanced approach. To better understand the multivariate relationships between the three aspects in medium-density housing, this research aims to bring to light the caveats of these relationships. This holistic understanding of the three variables will pave the way for planning initiatives in medium density housing. Through a comprehensive systematic literature review, the research aims to better understand the interrelationships between microclimate, thermal, and daylight comfort in medium density housing. The review generates a thematic matrix to discuss the findings. The findings show that there is very limited research considering all the three aspects, followed by microclimate and daylight, thermal and daylight comfort and finally microclimate and thermal comfort. It is also interesting to note the increased use of simulation methodology and in particular the use of multi-objective optimization tools since 2019. It also brings into the picture the growing concerns of overheating and the prioritization of energy efficiency and how the issues and the solutions adopted differ between different world economies.

Keywords

Session

Presented in Track N, Saturday 9 November 2024, 16:15 to 18:15, room WA 224 B, Auckland University of Technology. Session chair Dr Aysu Kuru.

How to Cite

Pourel, D., Ghaffarianhoseini, A., Ghaffarianhoseini, A., & Naismith, N. (2025). The Nuances Between Microclimate, Thermal Comfort, and Daylight Studies on Medium Density Houses; A Systematic Literature Review. In A. GhaffarianHoseini, A. GhaffarianHoseini, F. Rahimian, & M. B. Purushothaman (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE 2024) (Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, Vol. 591, pp. 1505–1514). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-96-4051-5_143

About the Conference

Presented at SASBE 2024, the International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, held in Auckland from 7 to 9 November 2024 and chaired by Professors Ali and Amirhosein GhaffarianHoseini, founders of GDI Academy. The version of record is published by Springer Nature; this page is the conference archive record kept by GDI Academy.