Low cost and energy efficient housing design in tropical climates: The case of Guinea

In Guinea, the population is increasing rapidly and the existing houses where low-income groups live, especially in urban areas, are produced in the form of "slums" in irregular urbanization. Generally, planned constructions are designed by foreign architects who aren't familiar with the culture and needs of the local region. In such cases, usually the building envelope is not shaped according to climate data. A building envelope, shaped in consideration of the climatic data, doesn't only bring the user's comfort to higher levels, but also makes positive contributions to the sustainability of the building and its relation with the environment. In this context, a study has been conducted in order to creat a low-cost and energy-efficient housing design that is both suitable for the climatic conditions in Guinea and the needs of the local people. In this study, the local architectural criteria of Guinea was investigated, some good practice low-cost houses examples made in tropical climates were selected and examined, and a guideline for the proposed design has been determined. In view of the determined design criteria, an environment friendly, sustainable, energy efficient and low-cost prototype housing has been proposed, considering the current construction situation of Guinea and the economic conditions of the local people. The construction cost of the prototype was estimated according to the schedule of construction materials in Guinea, and energy efficiency analysis were carried out using Autodesk Insight simulation software. As a result, it has been observed that it is possible to begin the construction of the prototype designed for low-income group based on the climatic conditions of Guinea at the cost of 13 220,10 USD, and the energy usage intensity consumed was approximately 78.8 kWh/m2/year.