The document discusses climate considerations for the Kedah Royal Museum located in Alor Setar, Malaysia. It describes the average temperature, humidity, rainfall, and wind patterns of the area based on data from the nearest weather station in Penang. The architectural design of the museum considers the warm, humid climate through features like high stilts, large openings for ventilation, lightweight materials, insulated roofs, and overhanging roofs to block direct sunlight.

1. Climate Consideration
Kedah Royal Museum is located at Alor Setar, Kedah. Alor Setar is
located on the West Coast Peninsula Malaysia. The graphs below
show the average monthly temperature, hours of sunshine, water
temperature, precipitation, humidity and wind speed of Alor Setar.
The data is collected from the nearest weather station: Penang,
Malaysia (92.2 KM).
Figure 4.138 Average minimum and maximum temperature over the year graph
(Penang Weather Station, 2016)
The months August, September, October and November have nice
weather with average temperatures. On average, the temperatures
are always high.
Figure 4.137 Average hours of sunshine over the year graph
(Penang Weather Station, 2016)
Figure 4.139 Average water temperature over the year graph
(Penang Weather Station, 2016)
This shows the monthly water temperature. October is the wettest
month while January is the driest month.
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This shows the average sun hours around the city of Alor Setar.

2. Figure 4.140 Average monthly percipitate over the year graph
(Penang Weather Station, 2016)
This is the monthly rainfall amount. Rainy seasons fall on April,
August, September, October and November.
Figure 4.142 Average humidity over the year graph
(Penang Weather Station, 2016)
This shows the monthly amount of humidity around the area.
Figure 4.141 Average wind speed over the year graph
(Penang Weather Station, 2016)
This is the monthly wind speed (meters per second). The windy
month falls on January, February and December.
On average, Alor Setar is a warm and damp place. The architectural
design of Kedah Royal Museum has considered its surrounding
environment and natural phenomenon. In order to tackle the
problems brought by the natural environment, the building was built
on high stilts with good ventilation as well as a large area of louvered
windows which adapts to the circumstances of the surrounding
environment.
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4.8.1 Tropical Building Design Consideration in
Kedah Royal Museum
Buildings in hot-humid climate need to be different from those in the
hot-dry climate. Buildings in humid climates are subjected to more
intense attack by insects, and materials rust and decay quickly
compared to other environments. Thus, being situated at a location
with hot-humid climate, Kedah Royal Museum holds the
characteristics of a tropical building.
Fenestration
One of the most important aspects in tropical building is its natural
ventilation. Breezes in high humidity allow people to feel cooler
because of the evaporation from their skin. Breezes also replace
indoor air with fresh air, keeping humidity levels from building up as
people exhale both moisture and heat.
The location, orientation, and plants nearby are intimately relative to
the qualities of natural ventilation. Natural ventilation need to be
shaped to avoid direct sunlight and catch breezes. In Kedah Royal
Museum, the large trees surrounding the building’s compound
provides shade and allows breeze to pass through.
Also, a building need to have breezeways in order to allow aeration.
Allowing many windows and openings helps to ventilate the interior
spaces and this is shown through the design of the Royal Museum
with plenty of openings.
Figure 4.143 Lush Greeneries Around the
Museum’s Compound
(Lim, 2017)
Figure 4.144 Rows of Openings to Allow Cross Ventilation
(Lim, 2017)

4. LightWeight Building Material
Building materials are also a key element affecting the
environmental temperature in the building. Light-weight materials
should be greatly used on walls and roof as they do not store much
heat and shed heat quickly. The difference between light-weight
materials and heavy-weight materials is heavy-weight materials
re-radiate the heat they have stored during the day, which keeps the
house hot after sunset. Traditional building materials like wood,
bamboo, grass are cheaper as well as cooler than masonry.
Therefore, being surrounded by forest in the past, the Kedah Royal
Museum was built using timber.
However, these materials can rot and be eaten up by insects easily,
so they need to be used carefully. This further explains the use of
protected timber and masonry as the two building materials that has
been used on the new extension of the Royal Museum due to better
durability and easier to take care.
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Figure 4.148 Overhanging Roof Over the Veranda
(Lim, 2017)
Figure 4.149 Part of the Museum Built Using Timber
(Lim Shen, 2017)

5. Insulation
Finally, building insulation is also an affecting factor. Keeping the
attic from atmospheric heat by using vented roofs and insulated
ceiling can allow air to flow up to the roof, out to the vents above.
This allows the roof as well as the interior environment of the Royal
Museum to stay cooler. Reflective foils draped across the rafters of
the roof help to insulate the building as well.
Sun Orientation
After aiming to catch the breeze, the next task is to keep sunlight off.
Windows should be shaded from the sun to prevent the high
temperature brought by direct sunlight into the building. This is
evident through the use of overhanging roofs in the Royal Museum.
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Figure 4.146 Interior Part of the Roof Exposing the
Reflective Foils
(Koh, 2017)
Figure 4.145 Ventilated Roof of Kedah Royal
Museum
(Chin, 2017)
Figure 4.147 Natural Light Penetration into the building (TRM,2017)
Morning sun
Evening sun