Paper Title
Assessment of Impact of Climate Change on Thermal Comfort in Traditional And Modern Houses of Rajshahi City, Bangladesh

Abstract
Rapid urbanization coupled with the fast pace of climate change has given rise to the use of more mechanized solution for thermal comfort in living spaces that are following a more modern trend of construction over the traditional contextual built forms. This research aimed at investigating and comparing the thermal performance of two distinct residential house forms of different timeline in Rajshahi City: the Traditional houses, constructed during the 1920s to 1990s, and the Modern houses, built from 2000 to 2020. Through physical survey, data collection using data loggers and semi structured interviews with the residents of the selected cases, this study in the context of Rajshahi city revealed that the construction technique, material used along with spatial layout and usability of spaces during the 1920s-2000s have evolved significantly and has consequently brought about changes in thermal performance in the houses. The temperature difference in the 3 month study period during summer (May-July) showed temperature difference ranging from lowest 0 °C to highest 6.6 °C during summer season in old and new houses. The study further noted that the difference in thermal performance in modern buildings compared to traditional buildings has led to more electricity usage where air conditioning has become vital to maintain the comfort inside the building, especially in the rising summer temperatures. Keywords - Thermal Performance, Residential Building, Climate change, Sustainability