Building construction materials effect in tropical wet and cold climates: A case study of office buildings in Cameroon

This paper presents the results of an experimental study that was conducted in 15 office buildings in the humid and cold tropics during the working hours of the dry and rainy seasons in Cameroon. This was with the aim to study the effects that local and imported materials had on indoor air quality. To achieve this objective, the adaptive model approach has been selected. In accordance with the conditions of this model, all workers were kept in natural ventilation and, in accordance with the general procedure, a questionnaire was distributed to them, while variables, like air temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity were sampled. The results showed a clear agreement between expected behaviour, in accordance with the characteristics of building construction, and its real indoor ambience once they were statistically analysed. On the other hand, old buildings showed a higher percentage of relative humidity and a lower degree of indoor air temperature. Despite this, local thermal comfort indices and questionnaires showed adequate indoor ambience in each group of buildings, except when marble was used for external tiling. The effect of marble as an external coating helps to improve indoor ambience during the dry season. This is due to more indoor air and relative humidity being accumulated. At the same time, these ambiences are degraded when relative humidity is higher. Finally, these results should be taken cognisance of by architects and building designers in order to improve indoor environment, and overcome thermal discomfort in the Saharan area.