scholarly journals Influence of the Passive Design of a Building Facade on the Indoor Thermal Comfort of Residential Buildings

2018 ◽  
Vol 07 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhou Pengfei ◽  
Zhang Chi
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Building Facade ◽  
Passive Design

scholarly journals Influence of the Passive Design of a Building Facade on the Indoor Thermal Comfort of Residential Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 03006
Author(s):  
Pengfei Zhou ◽  
Chi Zhang ◽  
Jiang Wang
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
Wall Material ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Building Facade ◽  
Building Facades ◽  
Passive Design

Building facades have evident effects on indoor thermal comfort. Hence, on the basis of a multifunctional residential building in Sydney, Australia, this research uses DesignBuilder software to optimize passive system design on building facades. This research also analyses the influences of changing window glazing type, adding additional shading devices and changing the material of the exterior wall on indoor thermal comfort. Results show that the number of uncomfortable hours can be reduced by 446, 186 and 874 hours by using a double-layer Low-E glass, adding extra shading device and adopting an external wall material with low thermal conductivity, respectively. When the three aforementioned passive design strategies are combined, indoor thermal environment discomfort time can be reduced by 24%. Therefore, the indoor thermal comfort of a building can be considerably improved through effective passive designs of the building facade.

scholarly journals Importance of Behavioral Adjustments for Adaptive Thermal Comfort in a Condominium with HEMS System

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-170
Author(s):  
Rajan KC ◽  
Hom Bahadur Rijal ◽  
Masanori Shukuya ◽  
Kazui Yoshida
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Outdoor Environment ◽  
Adaptive Behaviors ◽  
Outdoor Air ◽  
Indoor Thermal Environment ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort

The energy use in residential dwellings has been increasing due to increasing use of modern electric appliances to make the lifestyle easier, entertaining and better. One of the major purposes of indoor energy use is for improving indoor thermal environment for adjusting thermal comfort. Along with the use of passive means like the use of mechanical devices, the occupants in any dwellings use active means such as the use of natural ventilation, window opening, and clothing adjustment. In fact, the use of active means when the outdoor environment is good enough might be more suitable to improve indoor thermal environment than the use of mechanical air conditioning units, which necessarily require electricity. Therefore, the people in developing countries like Nepal need to understand to what extent the occupants can use active means to manage their own indoor thermal comfort. The use of active means during good outdoor environment might be an effective way to manage increasing energy demand in the future. We have made a field survey on the occupants’ adaptive behaviors for thermal comfort in a Japanese condominium equipped with Home Energy Management System (HEMS). Online questionnaire survey was conducted in a condominium with 356 families from November 2015 to October 2016 to understand the occupants’ behaviors. The number of 17036 votes from 39 families was collected. The indoor air temperature, relative humidity and illuminance were measured at the interval of 2-10 minutes to know indoor thermal environmental conditions. The occupants were found using different active behaviors for thermal comfort adjustments even in rather harsh summer and winter. Around 80% of the occupants surveyed opened windows when the outdoor air temperature was 30⁰C in free running (FR) mode and the clothing insulation was 0.93 clo when the outdoor air temperature was 0⁰C. The result showed that the use of mechanical heating and cooling was not necessarily the first priority to improve indoor thermal environment. Our result along with other results in residential buildings showed that the adaptive behaviors of the occupants are one of the primary ways to adjust indoor thermal comfort. This fact is important in enhancing the energy saving building design.

scholarly journals Theoretical Study on the Relationship of Building Thermal Insulation with Indoor Thermal Comfort Based on APMV Index and Energy Consumption of Rural Residential Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 8565
Author(s):  
Jinzhe Nie ◽  
Yuxin Pang ◽  
Congcong Wang ◽  
Han Zhang ◽  
Kuichao Yin
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Energy And Environment ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Adaptive Thermal Comfort ◽  
Insulation Thickness ◽  
The Relationship

In the field investigation of rural dwellings, it was found that thermal feelings are significantly different with varied envelopes even under the same indoor air temperature, and this paper explores the phenomenon in simulation. Based on building thermal investigations in several villages of North China, a typical energy and environment simulation model for rural residences was developed using DeST, and the hourly parameters of temperature and humidity were used to calculate the adaptive thermal comfort (APMV) of the rooms. The results show that the main reason for the different thermal comfort at the same air temperature is the large difference in the inner surface temperature. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the envelope structure, the relationship between it and the APMV value is obtained. By adjusting the insulation thickness of the enclosure structure and getting the correlation between it and the APMV value, it is obtained that when the heat transfer coefficient of the enclosure structure meets 0.5 W/ (m2−K), the indoors can be in thermal comfort. This paper considers that the indoor air temperature cannot represent the APMV to evaluate the indoor thermal comfort, and the APMV value should be used to evaluate the thermal comfort of the renovated building and calculate the corresponding energy saving rate.

scholarly journals Sensitivity Analysis of Passive Design Strategies for Residential Buildings in Cold Semi-Arid Climates

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waqas Ahmed Mahar ◽  
Griet Verbeeck ◽  
Sigrid Reiter ◽  
Shady Attia
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Design Recommendations ◽  
Adaptive Comfort ◽  
Passive Design ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Semi Arid

Buildings are significant drivers of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. Improving the thermal comfort of occupants in free-running buildings and avoiding active and fossil fuel-based systems is the main challenge in many cities worldwide. However, the impacts of passive design measures on thermal comfort in cold semi-arid regions are seldom studied. With the rapid urbanization and the widespread use of personalised heating and cooling systems, there is a need to inform building designers and city authorities about passive design measures that can achieve nearly optimal conditions. Therefore, in this study, a global sensitivity analysis of the impact of passive design parameters on adaptive comfort in cold semi-arid climates was conducted. A representative residential building was simulated and calibrated in Quetta, Pakistan, to identify key design parameters for optimal thermal comfort. The results list and rank a set of passive design recommendations that can be used widely in similar climates. The results show that among the investigated 21 design variables, the insulation type of roof is the most influential design variable. Overall, the sensitivity analysis yielded new quantitative and qualitative knowledge about the passive design of buildings with personalised heating systems, but the used sensitivity analysis has some limitations. Finally, this study provides evidence-based and informed design recommendations that can serve architects and homeowners to integrate passive design measures at the earliest conceptual design phases in cold semi-arid climates.

scholarly journals Towards an Adaptation of Efficient Passive Design for Thermal Comfort Buildings

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9570
Author(s):  
Ghada Elshafei ◽  
Silvia Vilcekova ◽  
Martina Zelenakova ◽  
Abdelazim M. Negm
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Natural Ventilation ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Green Building ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Indoor Climate ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Passive Design ◽  
Different Shapes

This paper discusses the effect of various climatic conditions that pertain to passive design measurements and their relationships with building configurations to improve indoor thermal comfort based on the different climate zones in Egypt to support Egypt’s sustainability agenda 2030. We find the most appropriate design settings that can increase the indoor thermal comfort, such as building orientation and shape. These settings can be modeled using DesignBuilder software combined with Egyptian meteorological data. This software is used accompanied by computational fluid dynamics to numerically assess the outcomes of different changes, by simulating indoor climate condition factors such as wind speed and temperature. Natural ventilation simulations were performed for four different shapes to create comprehensive dataset scenarios covering a general range of shapes and orientations. Seven scenarios were optimized to put forward a series of building bioclimatic design approaches for the different characteristic regions. The results indicated that the temperature decreased by about 3.2%, and the air velocity increased within the study domain by 200% in the best and the worst cases, respectively, of the four different shapes. The results of the study gave evidence that the configuration of buildings, direction, and wind speed are very important factors for defining the natural ventilation within these domains to support the green building concept and the sustainable design for a better lifestyle.

scholarly journals Building-Information-Modelling-Based Thermal-Energy Performance Evaluation of Silica-Aerogel-Incorporated Rigid Board Roof Insulation Material for Residential Buildings in the Tropical Climate of Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 945 (1) ◽  
pp. 012066
Author(s):  
Nadzhratul Husna ◽  
Syed Ahmad Farhan ◽  
Mohamed Mubarak Abdul Wahab ◽  
Nasir Shafiq ◽  
Muhammad Taufiq Sharif ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Thermal Energy ◽  
Silica Aerogel ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Insulation Material ◽  
Building Information Modelling ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Building Information

Abstract Malaysia is located in the equator, with a hot and humid climate. The highest temperature recorded during the day was 39 °C, which leads to discomfort among building occupants, in particular, residential buildings, where indoor thermal comfort is of a higher priority compared to other types of buildings. Hence, the thermal performance of the residential roof assembly needs to be improved to lower the indoor temperature and, accordingly, maintain the level of indoor thermal comfort. In view of the need to improve the thermal performance, a silica-aerogel-incorporated rigid board roof insulation material for residential buildings was developed using kapok fibre, high density polyethylene (HDPE) and silica aerogel. The thermal conductivity of the material was measured. The sample with 4 wt. % and 5 wt. % of silica aerogel content obtained the lowest thermal conductivity of 0.04 W/mK. Silica aerogel content of above 4 wt. % did not result in further reduction of the thermal conductivity. Therefore, it can be concluded that the optimum silica aerogel content for the sample was 4 wt. %. Building-Information-Modelling (BIM)based thermal-energy performance evaluation of the material was performed by generating temperature and cooling load data using Integrated Environmental Solution-Virtual Environment to validate the thermal-energy performance of the material, by installing the material within the roof assembly of a residential BIM. Findings indicate that the material can potentially be employed in the future as a roof insulation material to maintain the level of indoor thermal comfort among residential building occupants.

Materials consumption, indoor thermal comfort and associated energy flows of urban residential buildings

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 579-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Peng ◽  
Wu Deng ◽  
Yuanda Hong
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Embodied Energy ◽  
Insulating Materials ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indoor Thermal Comfort ◽  
Comfort Levels ◽  
Energy Flows

Purpose From the 2000s onward, construction practices of urban residential buildings in China have shown a material transformation from clay brick to aerated concrete block. Moreover, the consumption of insulating materials for buildings has been increasing due to the new requirements in building energy-saving standards. This transformation and the increased consumption of insulating materials might have a vital impact on a building’s thermal comfort and its associated energy flows. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the indoor thermal performance of urban residential buildings built with different materials and further discuss the correlations between indoor thermal comfort and the associated energy input. Design/methodology/approach This study investigated four residential buildings selected from four residential communities located in the cold climate zone of China. The Integrated Environment Solutions program was used to evaluate the thermal comfort levels and to quantify the operational energy consumption of the case study buildings. Additionally, the University of Bath’s Inventory of Carbon and Energy database was used to estimate the embodied energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Findings The study found that materials transition and increasing consumption did not necessarily improve indoor thermal comfort. However, the materials transition has significantly decreased the embodied energy consumption of urban residential buildings. Furthermore, the increased utilization of insulating materials has also decreased the heating and cooling energy consumption. Therefore, overall, the environmental impacts of urban residential buildings have been reduced significantly. Practical implications In the future, residential buildings completed in the 1990s will need regular maintenance, such as adding insulation. Residential buildings completed based on the latest energy-saving requirements should optimize their ventilation design, for example, by increasing the ventilation rate and by reducing solar heat gains in the summer. Originality/value This paper investigates the effects of the materials change on thermal comfort levels and the environmental impacts of urban residential buildings in the cold climate zone of China, as these have not been the focus of many previous studies.

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