Abstract
This paper discusses the thermal environment of vernacular houses in San-in area in summer over eight days from 29th August 2001 . Indoor thermal environment of three town houses with small courtyard (tsuboniwa) and their surrounding outdoor spaces were measured at twenty six points. The results of the measurements showed that, in the daytime, it was cooler at the tooriniwa than any other point. Based on the result, in order to carry out a detailed investigation of the effect of tsuboniwa on the living rooms, air temperatures were simultaneously measured at sixty points in the tsuboniwa and in two rooms adjacent to it over fours days from 22th August 2003, making use of thermo couples. It is confirmed that the tsuboniwa was the coolest space. Opening the sliding doors between the tsuboniwa and the living rooms caused the cooling air to enter the living rooms, and as a result, it contributed to decreasing the temperature of the living rooms. Consequently, the tsuboniwa can have the effective cooling performance on the adjacent rooms and it is the useful space from the point of view of environmental symbiosis.
