Wardah Fatimah Mohammad Yusoff

Building Energy Efficiency in Hot and Humid Climate

Residential and commercial buildings consume large percentage of annual energy consumption such as in lighting, ventilation and electrical equipment or appliances. Thus reducing its energy consumption may lead to reduction of energy need. The objectives of this paper are to discuss on the strategies for energy efficiency in buildings located in the hot and humid climates and to discuss current research on building’s energy efficiency. Malaysia has been selected as the case study. This article concludes that there are efforts by governmental and nongovernmental agencies to improve building’s energy efficiency, and there are many strategies and technologies available to be adopted in buildings for energy efficiency.

Application of solar-induced ventilation prototype in small and medium enterprise building

This paper discusses the application of a solar-induced ventilation strategy in a small and medium enterprise (SME) building, which is a single-storey shophouse. The aim of the study was to examine the performance of the proposed strategy to enhance the indoor environment of the selected building. The poposed strategy comprises two parts, namely roof solar collector and vertical stack. The research method employed a simulation modelling, which was validated against field measurement. The findings indicated that the proposed strategy was able to reduce the indoor air temperature, as well as increase the indoor air flow rate and air exchange rate of the SME building. The highest indoor air temperature reduction was 1.8℃, while the highest indoor air flow rate and air exchange rate enhancement were 0.08 m3/s and 16 ACH, respectively. In summary, the findings highlighted the potential application of the proposed strategy in enhancing the indoor environment of an SME building. The combination of roof solar collector and vertical stack was demonstrated to enable enhancement of the stack ventilation, to provide high ventilation rates especially for buildings with deep plan layout, by increasing the temperature difference between the inside and outside air, as well as the vertical difference between the inlet and outlet.

MASS FLOW RATE INDUCED BY COMBINED ROOF SOLAR COLLECTOR AND VERTICAL STACK IN A HOT HUMID CLIMATE

ABSTRACT This paper presents the investigation of solar induced ventilation that utilizes roof solar collector and vertical stack. Three prototypes, namely A, B and C, were developed based on preliminary experimental work. They were then used in simulation study with the objective of determining the prototype that was able to induce the highest mass flow rate. The validation of simulation modelling against experiment indicated a good agreement between these two results. The findings showed that prototype A induced the highest mass flow rate. However, prototype C, which had obstructions at the stack outlets, was more appropriate for application in Malaysia due to various prevailing wind directions. In addition, the findings also indicated that besides solar radiation, the mass flow rate induced by the prototypes was also influenced by the local wind direction, the inlet and outlet positions as well as the outlet design. In summary, the findings highlighted the potential application of the proposed solar in...