This study analyzes the thermal performance of courtyards in traditional buildings in the
city center of Córdoba (South of Spain), one of them displaying a shading component, to determine
the influence of this precise element. The courtyards have been monitored simultaneously during a
summer period when temperatures during the day reached over 45 °C. The obtained data was
contrasted, and we confirmed that the shading element provided an improvement of the thermal
performance of the courtyard which doubled the thermal leap between outdoor and inside the
courtyard temperatures when the shading element was installed, in comparison to the courtyard
without shade. Therefore, the tempering effect of courtyards can be significantly improved by
means of using these simple elements