Improving thermal comfort of shelter solutions in IDP camps in North-West Syria

Abstract

Protracted conflict crises result in long-term displacement. They often take place in climates with extreme temperatures. Despite evidence that thermal stress is a major concern for displaced populations, thermal performance is often overlooked in the design of shelter solutions. This work aims to improve the thermal comfort of shelter solutions in North-West Syria through appropriate solutions. A case study shelter is evaluated for its thermal performance and promising passive design modifications are tested for their effectiveness. The most cost-effective variants are identified through multi-objective optimisation.

The results show that the occupants of the case study shelter face severe thermal stress. Indoor temperatures reach extremes of 9°C and 40°C, resulting in 27% annual underheating and 5% annual overheating. To reduce overheating, internal thermal mass, window shading and the addition of internal insulation foil were identified as the most effective design modifications. To improve winter comfort, double glazing, increased wall insulation and internal thermal mass are the most effective. Window orientation has a major impact on thermal comfort: South orientation was found to be the best, while West and North were the worst. The optimisation results suggest that South-facing single shelter units with double-glazed windows perform best, achieving a 30-45% improvement in comfort compared to the
West-facing base case. By adding additional insulation or internal thermal mass, annual discomfort could be more than halved while still remaining within the cost cap. The findings show the usefulness of thermal modelling in improving shelter design and the effectiveness of passive design modifications to improve thermal comfort in temporary shelters.