One of the most significant current discussions in the built environment, architectural practice, theory, and procedures is “Passive Design”. It is becoming very difficult to ignore the issues of passive architectural design strategies in buildings. Recent studies emphasized the need for passive architectural design strategies and the application of the courtyard as a passive design strategy for cooling in buildings. Also, that the courtyard is very suitable in almost all building typologies in all the climatic zones due to its passive tendencies for cooling. Its cooling potentials can be achieved only when design requirements are not ignored. The courtyard has social, cultural, religious, and environmental benefits. Despite its abundant advantages, research effort towards courtyard design requirements is very scarce. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to investigate the design of central courtyard as a passive cooling strategy for improving indoor thermal comfort in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Buildings. Courtyard design requirement such as the courtyard configurations, orientation, and natural features in courtyard buildings in UTM were investigated. Besides the design variants, courtyard usage in such buildings was also examined. The methodology of this study involved the developing of a checklist based on literature for the field survey. Forty-six (46) courtyards in thirty-two (32) buildings in UTM were surveyed, and the statistical description method was used to interpret and analyzed the data. The Results of this quantitative study shows that UTM central courtyards buildings were designed based on a cautious consideration to orientation and configurations to enhance their effective passive cooling potentials, however, only two courtyards had water pools. The study concluded that courtyards in UTM buildings are creatively designed but future experimental studies to appraise their thermal performances is required, and future simulation studies can predict a better design requirement for optimum performance. Therefore, further simulation studies are recommended.

Recent studies have emphasized the importance of the courtyard microclimate to the building and the need for a comparative study on their typology in other to ascertain the best alternative. Also emphasizing that the architect choice of the courtyard typology to be adopted in his architectural design schemes should be based on performance rather than his mere intuitive choice. Therefore, an investigational study of two different courtyard forms with the same perimeter, and material finished -the fully enclosed internal central courtyard and the semi-enclosed courtyard has been carried out in two existing residential buildings, in the city of Kafanchan-Nigeria. The main purpose of the study is to compare their climatic performances in other to ascertain the best option. The study employed the experimental methodology. Three Hobo Weather Data Loggers (HWDL) were used to collect data in the courtyards, and the third one was positioned in the outdoor area as a benchmark. Only two climatic variables, namely air temperature, and relative humidity were examined as these variables have not been investigated in a single research on the courtyard in Nigeria. The results showed a definite difference in the microclimatic conditions of the two courtyards. The fully enclosed internal courtyard is seen to have a better air temperature difference of 1oc to 3oc at the time intervals, and the relative humidity difference of 1% to 6%. In conclusion, the fully enclosed internal courtyard has demonstrated a more favorable microclimatic performance than the semi-enclosed, and future simulation studies towards its optimization are recommended.

Current studies have discussed the significance of building orientation to the building indoor micro-climate and highlighted the need for more empirical research in other to establish the best orientation for buildings. Other scholars have argued that the impact of building orientation is insignificant and varies from one climatic region to another. This study, therefore, examines two prototype classroom buildings at the Kafanchan campus of Kaduna State University –Nigeria. The main purpose of the study is to determine the effect of building orientation on the indoor micro-climatic performance of two classroom buildings. Three Hobo Weather Data Loggers (HWDL) were used to collect data in the selected case-studies, and the third one was used as a benchmark. The study showed a remarkable difference in the indoor microclimatic conditions of the two buildings. The air temperature in case-study (B) is 1oC to 2oC lower than that of case-study (A) in all the respective time intervals. Also, 2% to 4% relative humidity difference was observed in favour of case-study (B). In conclusion, case-study (B) has demonstrated a more favourable indoor micro-climatic performance than case-study (A), and future simulation studies towards understanding the indoor micro-climatic performances of all possible building orientation options such as North-East/South-West, North-West/South-East, North/South and East/West in other to ascertain the optimum option are recommended. Keywords: Buildings; Indoor Micro-climatic; Orientation; Performance