Investigating the feasibility of positive energy residential buildings in tropical climates (original) (raw)
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Sustainability
Based on an extensive literature review on passive building designs for tropical climates, seven energy-efficient building design principles for tropical climate areas were deduced. These are: 1. To orientate a building design in such a direction that it protects from excessive solar radiation; 2. To accommodate for indoor natural ventilation; 3. That it makes maximal use of indirect instead of direct natural light; 4, That it reduces the amount of heat transmission through the roof as much as possible by natural ventilation between roof and ceiling and by lowering the roof surface temperature; 5. By preventing the use of high thermal mass materials; 6. By reducing through the exterior walls as much as possible heat transmission by e.g., preventing direct sunlight on the external walls and applying reflective paints on the external walls and; 7. By creating outdoor and transition spaces such as balconies, terraces atriums and corridors. The insights from the literature review were u...
Solar Energy, 2001
In early 1995, a DSM pilot initiative has been launched in the French islands of Guadeloupe and Reunion through a partnership between several public and private partners (the French Public Utility EDF, the University of Reunion Island, low cost housing companies, architects, energy consultants, etc...) to set up standards to improve thermal design of new residential b uildings in tropical climates. This partnership led to defining optimized bio-climatic urban planning and architectural designs featuring the use of passive cooling architectural principles (solar shading, natural ventilation) and components, as well as energy effici ent systems and technologies. The design and sizing of each architectural component on internal thermal comfort in building has been assessed with a validated thermal and airflow building simulation software (CODYRUN). These technical specifications have been edited in a reference document which has been used to build over 300 new pilot dwellings through the years 1996-1998 in Reunion Island and in Guadeloupe. An experimental monitoring has been made in these first ECODOM dwellings in 1998 and 1999. It will result in experimental validation of impact of the passive cooling strategies on thermal comfort of occupants leading to modify specifications if necessary. The paper present all the methodology used for the elaboration of ECODOM, from the simulations to the experimental results. This follow up is important, as the setting up of the ECODOM standard will be the first step towards the setting up of thermal regulations in the French overseas territories, by the year 2002.
Cost Optimum Design of a Tropical Near Zero Energy House (nZEH)
International Journal of Technology
Housing development, as part of economic development, must be supported by energy availability in order to achieve sustainable growth. One of the approaches to supporting renewable energy promotion is to design and build energy efficient housing. However, the optimal design of such buildings faces two conflicting requirements, namely the consideration of cost effectiveness and minimum environmental impact. The high costs of energy efficient buildings, such as the near Zero Energy House (nZEH), are due to the high price of the materials and equipment used, such as photovoltaic (PV) panels, insulation and other supporting materials. Indonesia is situated on the equator and benefits from sunlight throughout the year. Nonetheless, this potential has not been fully realized, as the solar-generated energy technology for housing comes at a high price. Therefore, the objective of this study is to find the cost optimum combination of validated design variables for an nZEH which suit the tropical climate conditions of Indonesia. Experiments and a case study are employed in the study to validate the design variables for an optimum nZEH design, which include building orientation, PV panels, fenestration, and passive design. The study finds that the cost optimum nZEH design achieved 72 percent site-energy savings and 21 percent savings in the total Net Present Value (NPV) of life cycle costs, with insignificant incremental initial construction costs in enhancing the design.
The effect of the sun and its path on thermal comfort and energy consumption in residential buildings in tropical climates constitutes serious concern for designers, building owners and users. Passive design approaches based on the sun and its path have been identified as a means of reducing energy consumption, as well as enhancing thermal comfort in buildings worldwide. Hence, a thorough understanding regarding the sun path is key to achieving this. This is necessary due to energy need, poor energy supply and distribution, energy poverty and over-dependence on electric generators for power supply in Nigeria. These challenges call for a change in the approach to energy related issues, especially in terms of buildings. The aim of this study is to explore the influence of building orientation, glazing and the use of shading devices on residential buildings in Nigeria. This is intended to provide data that will guide designers in the design of energy efficient residential buildings. The paper used EnergyPlus software to analyze a typical semi-detached residential building in Lokoja, Nigeria, using hourly weather data for a period of 10 years. Building performance was studied as well as possible improvement regarding different orientations, glazing types and shading devices. The simulation results showed reductions in energy consumption in response to changes in building orientation, types of glazing and the use of shading devices. The results indicate a 29.45% reduction in solar gains and 1.90% in annual operative temperature using natural ventilation only. This shows a huge potential to reduce energy consumption and improve people's wellbeing using proper building orientation, glazing and appropriate shading devices on building envelope. The study concludes that for a significant reduction in total energy consumption by residential buildings, design should focus on multiple design options rather than concentrating on one or few building elements. Moreover, the investigation confirms that energy performance modelling can be used by building designers to take advantage of the sun and to evaluate various design options.
Building sector has been identified as a major energy consumer with nearly half of the world's energy used is associated with providing environmental conditioning in buildings. Approximately, two third of this is for heating, cooling and mechanical ventilation. Therefore, there is a need for optimizing the building design which collaborates with surrounding environment in enhances the energy conservation programme. Energy consumption evaluation and audits for buildings is the most important step that can contribute to energy conservation. As preliminary studies to this research, four lowrise residential college buildings with specific layout were selected in finding the relationship between green/passive building strategies and energy performance. The study initial approach was to critically analyse the design of the selected buildings through scaled drawings and site visits. Comparison of the two were carefully made to obtain current and post renovation conditions and surroundings as most of the drawings were drawn 30 to 40 years back. The elements of bioclimatic design were implemented as matrixes or criteria, particularly on natural ventilation and day lighting. Then, the energy performance was crucially audited to find out Building Energy Performance (BEP) acknowledged as energy use per unit floor area, and Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) to elaborate the kWh/m 2 /year of each residential college for five years duration. As initial findings, the implementations of appropriate green building strategies is able to provide positive impacts to the overall energy performance of the residential colleges.
Near Zero Energy House (Nzeh) Design Variables for Housing Development
Proceedings of International Structural Engineering and Construction, 2016
Housing development, as part of the economic development must be supported by energy availability in order to obtain a sustainable growth. One of the approaches to support the renewable energy promotions is designing and building energy efficient housing. However, optimal design of energy efficient buildings is facing two conflicting requirements, namely cost effective consideration and minimum environmental impact. The high costs from energy efficient building such as the Near Zero Energy House (nZEH) is due to high price of materials and equipment used, such as solar panel, insulation and other supporting materials. Indonesia is situatued at the equator and received sunlight throughout the year. Nonetheless, this potential has not been fully discovered due to the high cost of the solar generated energy technology for housing. Moreover, this technology is not integrated with the main electricity network. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the design variables for nZEH...
Development and Analysis of a Sustainable, Low Energy House in a Hot and Humid Climate
2002
This study examines the lifetime building e nergy consumption of a typical house in Bangkok, Thailand. The lifetime building energy consumption is composed of three major components: 1) the energy used in building construction (i.e., embodied, transportation and construction energy), 2) the energy used in building operation (annual energy), and 3) the energy used in building demolition (demolition energy). The study used measured environmental and en ergy use data from a case-study house in Thailand. For the construction energy and the energy used in building demolition analyses, reference data from reliable sources both in the U.S. and the U.K. were used. The DOE-2 energy simulation program was used to analyze changes to the annual energy use caused by changing various building materials and/or design configurations. A new energy efficient design was then iteratively chosen that contained reduced levels of embodied energy use and reduced annual energy use. The results from the anal...
Near Zero Energy House (nZEH) Design Variables for Housing Development in Indonesia
Housing development, as part of the economic development must be supported by energy availability in order to obtain a sustainable growth. One of the approaches to support the renewable energy promotions is designing and building energy efficient housing. However, optimal design of energy efficient buildings is facing two conflicting requirements, namely cost effective consideration and minimum environmental impact. The high costs from energy efficient building such as the Near Zero Energy House (nZEH) is due to high price of materials and equipment used, such as solar panel, insulation and other supporting materials. Indonesia is situatued at the equator and received sunlight throughout the year. Nonetheless, this potential has not been fully discovered due to the high cost of the solar generated energy technology for housing. Moreover, this technology is not integrated with the main electricity network. Thus, the objective of this study is to identify the design variables for nZEH that suit the tropical climate condition in Indonesia. Experiments and Case Study are used for the study, and the validated design variables for nZEH, which includes building orientation, PV, fenestration, and passive design, will be the basis for optimum nZEH design.
ENERGY SAVING HOUSE DESIGN THROUGH A TROPICAL ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH
Housing is one of the basic needs of human beings. Today, many homes are built without environmental considerations and do not consider the tropical climate of Indonesia, especially Medan. When designing a home, you need a solution that takes tropical climate into account. One of them is the design of houses by a tropical architectural approach with the concept of energy saving. The study entitled Two Story House, an energy-saving concept with a tropical building approach, aims to design a two-story house with an energy-saving concept with a tropical building approach, taking into account the current state of the building, wind direction , natural lighting, and natural ventilation. is. Will be considered. The study identifies the site, collects article data from national journals from the Internet to obtain variables used in design guidelines, and analyzes through visits to land sites that produce photographic documents and work drawings. , Use a qualitative description method. The design of this house is intended to be an example or recommendation for an energy efficient life with a tropical architectural approach.
Civil Engineering and Architecture, 2023
The energy requirements for dwellings in tropical equatorial climates are significant and ongoing throughout the year. Fortunately, significant and stable irradiation exists. We propose the redesign of a local-style, single-family home with a layout for a typical family of four. The methodology consists of real data on the electricity consumption of an existing case of a typical family, which is considered the source of the energy requirements to determine improvements. Once the house is characterized, it is redesigned. Its energetic behaviour is simulated with virtual tools such as ArchiCAD from Graphisoft and DesignBuilder to introduce passive strategies. Photovoltaic (PV) electrical self-supply of the building is integrated, and the inclusion of electric vehicles is considered. The house is virtually built as a dwelling with similar functions, but solar passive and active strategies are integrated to achieve high energy performance. The roof envelope configuration is the main energy source, and interior overheating is the cause. An initial reduction of 36.97% in energy requirements with only passive strategies and a double-ventilated roof is estimated. When simulating PV capability with the System Advisor Model software, nine standard PV 380 Wp panels are sized for the roof to meet the estimated power requirements, and nine additional units are needed to supply electric transportation sufficient for a single family. A model that can scalably integrate PV in accordance with demand is proposed.