Studies have shown the relevance of the courtyard houses and passive strategy that plays a significant role in energy reduction, providing thermal comfort and visual comfort. Generally, designing the courtyards was considered suitable for thermal comfort. North India lies in the composite climatic zone, and courtyard houses in this region have a distinctly vernacular style. Many studies all around the world were conducted to analyse courtyard houses and followed different methodologies. The aim of this paper is to uncover and formulate a research methodology to analyse effective daylighting in courtyard houses of composite climate; approximately forty research papers were reviewed to find out the research methodology. The year of publication, climate zone, sky models used, weather file, building type, verifying method, simulation tools, daylight matrices, and methodology adopted were studied in the reviewed literature to formulating the methodology. The study concludes that experimental models were commonly used for daylight analysis, moreover climate-based sky can be used for detailed simulation instead of the Daylight factor with overcast sky conditions.

The courtyard houses have an important place in the history of architecture. They play a vital role in the social and environmental sustainability of that place. This paper aims to identify the significance of courtyards in composite climate by analyzing the associated space, function, courtyard configuration, and socio-cultural connections. Accordingly, eight courtyard houses of Lucknow and Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh, India) were selected for analysis based on their heritage value (in terms of age) and placement in the courtyard. Drawings of these houses were prepared through a site survey. Illumination data in the courtyard and adjacent spaces was measured through a lux meter. Various parameters of the courtyard, such as placement, size (length, breadth, and height), and connection to adjacent spaces, were analyzed through the above-collected data. The analysis concluded that the courtyard houses with NS orientation with significant height have good thermal comfort and daylight in the adjacent spaces.