Thermal Performance of Traditional Houses with Mud Wall and its Development to the Nature Symbiotic Housing

Interests in Japanese living, traditional architecture and climate- based architecture are increasing, and importance of environmental design using natural materials such as wood, paper and mud is increasing. The thermal characteristics and thermal insulation effect of the mud wall which is the element of Japanese traditional architecture, influence on the thermal sensation of the softwood flooring material, the knowledge about the ventilation effect of the opening part are summarized. Comparative survey of house of mud wall and house of non-mud wall confirmed that the temperature inside the house of mud wall is stable. In the summer and daytime, the indoor air temperature which was ventilated was the same in both houses, but the indoor air temperature was lower in the house with external insulation at night.In subject experiments on flooring materials, materials with low thermal conductivity such as tatami, cedar and cypress were evaluated on warm side and comfortable side in winter.In the traditional houses, the opening method is seen as regionality, whereas it was not seen in contemporary houses.How to develop into a nature symbiotic housing was shown.