It is widely accepted that the climatic factors-including solar load, wind flow pattern and external air temperature-strongly affect building energy consumption. Meanwhile, the microclimate of semi-closed spaces between buildings has direct and indirect consequences on heat transfer through building envelopes. This study demonstrates how courtyard configuration can modify the climate and external air temperature and how the microclimate condition can be considered for functionally accurate calculation of heat loss and thermal loads of buildings. Based on the experimental and computational results, increasing the courtyard's depth by restricting the sky view factor (SVF) and the heat exchange with courtyard's outside at low levels, creates the individual microclimate. The thermal environment of this middle space is affected more than outside by surrounding rooms and the thermal properties of the building walls. The findings, which are limited to experimental cases in the Hanover climate region, propose to consider the temperature of courtyard depending on its aspect ratio and glazing percentage with a temperature correction factor (F-X,F- (Heat load)) between 0.9 to 2.2. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.