Past years have witnessed the popularity of traditional Malay house as a common housing type in Malaysia. However, double-storey house has become one of the common types of low-rise housing in Malaysia. Several passive cooling strategies have been adopted to cope with the hot-humid climate of Malaysia. In this study, the thermal comfort of a double-storey house was examined when different passive cooling strategies that were adopted from traditional Malay houses were applied using IES-VE 2019 building simulation software. The simulation was conducted for various design strategies such as changing concrete roof tiles to clay roof tiles, adding two small openings to the attic, removing the ceiling between the upper floor and the attic, and extending the overhang by 50% of its length for all the four facades. All these strategies were tested and compared between full-day natural ventilation and without any ventilation. The thermal comfort of these strategies was graphically defined based on the operative temperature. These analyses revealed that protecting the building envelope by extending the overhang by 50% of its length for all the four facades could ensure the best thermal comfort is achieved compared to other selected strategies. Recommendations for further studies are also outlined in this paper.
Reducing Cooling Demands in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Study on the Thermal Performance of Passive Cooling Methods in Enclosed Spaces
