Cover Image

Thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review

The rapid growth in population and economy activities in the tropical countries has led to an increase in energy consumption which hastens the depletion of available energy resources. The building sector is one of the major end users of energy. On the other hand, the air conditioning system is viewe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kwong, Qi Jie, Adam, Nor Mariah, Sahari, Barkawi
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2014
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35837/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778813006166
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
id my.upm.eprints.35837
record_format eprints
spelling my.upm.eprints.358372016-02-10T08:35:08Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35837/ Thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review Kwong, Qi Jie Adam, Nor Mariah Sahari, Barkawi The rapid growth in population and economy activities in the tropical countries has led to an increase in energy consumption which hastens the depletion of available energy resources. The building sector is one of the major end users of energy. On the other hand, the air conditioning system is viewed as an important tool to sustain and improve thermal comfort of occupants, but this system is often the biggest energy consumer in buildings. This has raised concerns on efficient use of the air conditioning system for reduction in energy cost. In order to identify the thermal comfort perception of occupants as well as energy conservation potentials in tropical buildings, various thermal comfort assessments were conducted which included field surveys and chamber studies. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the energy efficiency improvement potentials in air-conditioned tropical buildings by considering thermal comfort of occupants. Some of the studies conducted in the institutes of learning, offices and residential were reviewed and focus was placed on the thermal comfort studies that emphasis on balance between energy efficiency and thermal comfort. It was estimated that a reduction of 2150 GWh of energy demand annually in Malaysia can be achieved if the thermostat set-point is set higher by 2 °C, together with a reduction of 3 × 109 lbs (1.36 × 109 kg) of greenhouse gases. Besides, the use of computational simulation tools for prediction of thermal comfort and adaptive behaviour of people in the tropics towards their immediate thermal environment are also highlighted. Elsevier 2014-01 Article PeerReviewed Kwong, Qi Jie and Adam, Nor Mariah and Sahari, Barkawi (2014) Thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review. Energy and Buildings, 68 (pt. A). pp. 547-557. ISSN 0378-7788; ESSN: 1872-6178 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778813006166 10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.09.034
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
description The rapid growth in population and economy activities in the tropical countries has led to an increase in energy consumption which hastens the depletion of available energy resources. The building sector is one of the major end users of energy. On the other hand, the air conditioning system is viewed as an important tool to sustain and improve thermal comfort of occupants, but this system is often the biggest energy consumer in buildings. This has raised concerns on efficient use of the air conditioning system for reduction in energy cost. In order to identify the thermal comfort perception of occupants as well as energy conservation potentials in tropical buildings, various thermal comfort assessments were conducted which included field surveys and chamber studies. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the energy efficiency improvement potentials in air-conditioned tropical buildings by considering thermal comfort of occupants. Some of the studies conducted in the institutes of learning, offices and residential were reviewed and focus was placed on the thermal comfort studies that emphasis on balance between energy efficiency and thermal comfort. It was estimated that a reduction of 2150 GWh of energy demand annually in Malaysia can be achieved if the thermostat set-point is set higher by 2 °C, together with a reduction of 3 × 109 lbs (1.36 × 109 kg) of greenhouse gases. Besides, the use of computational simulation tools for prediction of thermal comfort and adaptive behaviour of people in the tropics towards their immediate thermal environment are also highlighted.
format Article
author Kwong, Qi Jie
Adam, Nor Mariah
Sahari, Barkawi
spellingShingle Kwong, Qi Jie
Adam, Nor Mariah
Sahari, Barkawi
Thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review
author_facet Kwong, Qi Jie
Adam, Nor Mariah
Sahari, Barkawi
author_sort Kwong, Qi Jie
title Thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review
title_short Thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review
title_full Thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review
title_fullStr Thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review
title_full_unstemmed Thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review
title_sort thermal comfort assessment and potential for energy efficiency enhancement in modern tropical buildings: a review
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2014
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/35837/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778813006166
_version_ 1643831572147732480
score 13.211869

Similar Items