Bioclimatic Design Strategies Recommendations for Thermal Comfort in the North Region of Cameroon: A Mahoney’s Table-Based Approach

Abstract

The building sector accounts for about 70% of energy consumption in Cameroon. Despite the existence of a national policy, strategy and action plan for energy efficiency, residential and administrative buildings in Cameroon are designed with insufficient consideration to local climatic conditions leading to poor thermal performance of buildings and increasing reliance on mechanical cooling systems to maintain acceptable indoor thermal comfort. This work focuses on the bioclimatic design of buildings in the North Region of Cameroon which is characterized by high temperature and intense solar radiation. The main objective is to aid architects in designing structures that are in harmony with local climates. The study relied on climatic data of the city of Garoua, head-quarter of the North region, collected on the NASA website for a period of 10 years (2015-2024) and this data was evaluated by Mahoney\'s tables. The results show that in Garoua, buildings should have elongated shapes in the East-West direction with medium-sized windows (25 to 40%) placed to the north and south, thick walls (more than 8 h phase shift time), light roofs with insulation and open-air spaces for sleeping at night.

Introduction

The text presents a study on bioclimatic building design for energy-efficient buildings in Garoua, North Cameroon, where high temperatures and significant building energy consumption create a need for climate-responsive architecture.

• Background: Global energy demand is increasing, while fossil-fuel shortages and climate change require greater use of renewable energy and reductions in energy consumption. Buildings are major energy consumers, and in Cameroon they account for about 70% of final energy consumption.

• Main Problem: High building energy use in Cameroon is associated with inefficient air-conditioning equipment and building designs that often do not adequately consider climate and environmental conditions.

• Proposed Approach: Instead of relying heavily on sophisticated mechanical equipment, the study promotes bioclimatic design, which adapts building orientation, openings, room arrangement, materials, ventilation, and other architectural features to the local climate.

• Study Area: The research focuses on Garoua, the capital of Cameroon's North Region. The region has a Sudano-Sahelian tropical climate, with:

  • Rainy season: April–October.
  • Dry season: November–March.
  • Very high temperatures, reaching about 40.8°C.
  • Strong solar radiation averaging 5.71 kWh/m²/day.
  • Average annual temperature of approximately 28.41°C.
  • Annual rainfall of about 920.6 mm.

• Climate Analysis: Ten years of meteorological data from 2015–2024 were analyzed using Mahoney's Tables. The study examined solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and precipitation to determine appropriate building-design strategies.

• Key Climate Findings:

  • March is the hottest month, with an average maximum temperature of about 40.79°C.
  • August is the coolest month, with an average temperature of about 25.52°C.
  • Relative humidity ranges from about 15.35% in February to 84.13% in August.
  • Wind speeds range from 1.81 to 4.24 m/s.
  • August receives the highest rainfall, around 206.58 mm.
  • Daytime temperatures are classified as hot throughout the year, while some nighttime periods are comfortable.

• Mahoney Recommendations: The analysis recommends architectural strategies such as:

  • Orienting buildings along the east–west axis, with north–south orientation of major faces.
  • Providing wide spacing between buildings to encourage natural breezes while protecting against undesirable winds.
  • Designing rooms for continuous air movement and ventilation.
  • Using medium-sized windows appropriate for the climate.
  • Constructing thick exterior and interior walls to reduce heat transfer.
  • Using lightweight roofs where appropriate.
  • Providing open-air outdoor spaces suitable for nighttime sleeping.
  • Including adequate rain protection during the rainy season.

Conclusion

Bioclimatic design is currently a major challenge in the building sector, both for the quality of the interior environments and for the energy and environmental impacts. A bioclimatic analysis to define recommendations to be followed when designing buildings in the North Region was carried out based on Mahoney\'s tables. The objective is to minimize the demand for air conditioning in buildings while valuing natural energy resources of the environment. The analysis made it possible to propose the appropriate orientation of buildings, an adapted design of walls, roofs, openings, and floors. However, bioclimatic design alone is not enough to reduce heat exchange between the indoor environment and outdoor spaces. It is necessary to complete these results with a study of suitable materials in the context of the North Region and to carry out experimental studies on real buildings to confirm the proposed solutions in order to integrate the recommendations into the building standards for North Cameroon and promote the emergence of a more comfortable habitat, more energy-efficient.

References

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Dr. Emilienne BOGWARBE, Celeste NGAROUA SAMBERO. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.