A post-occupancy strategy to improve thermal comfort in social housing in a tropical highland climate: A case study in Bogota, Colombia

This study exposes substantial thermal comfort deficiencies present in social housing projects in Bogota, which are believed to result from a generalised lack of policy, research and knowledge. This problem might be widespread in most residential buildings; however, there is very little information available. Thermal comfort deficiencies are linked to low occupant's satisfaction, poor health and wellbeing, as well as, increases in the building's energy consumption and CO2-e. This article contributes towards the documentation, assessment and treatment of these deficiencies using a multi-phase and solution-orientated approach, which includes a case study, dynamic thermal simulations and fieldwork. This approach can be replicated and adapted for other contexts within tropical highland climates. The fieldwork focused on improving the existing facade thermal mass, and the performance of external windows through two retrofit interventions. These showed to be cost-effective, feasible and practical with a view to being implemented directly by the occupants.