An evaluation of indoor thermal comfort performance of cavity and non-cavity timber building envelope typologies modelled for tropical climates

Purpose Building envelopes are crucial elements that control the quality of indoor building environments. There has been a lack of focus on developing a sustainable building envelope for tropical climates. This study aims to evaluate the indoor thermal comfort performance of passive building envelope typologies modelled for tropical climates. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted an experimental research strategy by modelling cavity and non-cavity building envelope prototypes. Structural equation modelling and regression analysis techniques were employed to investigate the relationship between indoor environmental quality and outdoor environmental factors for various building envelope typologies. Findings This study revealed that cavity and non-cavity building envelope prototypes have different influences on indoor environmental parameters. External environmental elements, such as air pressure, wind speed, cloudiness, air quality, temperature, precipitation and humidity, influence the building envelope system to maintain or destabilise a sustainable indoor environment. Practical implications Building codes and standards for the construction industry should consider the influence of external environmental conditions on indoor environmental quality. Furthermore, building design teams will find the research findings useful in their efforts to achieve sustainable designs by relying on the building envelope to achieve thermal comfort, rather than relying on artificial means. Social implications Improvements in indoor environmental quality lead to enhanced health and well-being among occupants. Originality/value This study is one of the pioneering research works in the tropical region that proposes using the building envelope as a passive design means to attain a sustainable indoor environment by experimenting with two different modelled wooden building envelope typologies.