The purpose of this research is to develop methods that reduce energy consumption in a residential building in a hot and humid climate region (Thailand) using efficient architectural building components and renewable energy (solar energy) to produce electricity, domestic hot water, and supplemental cooling by night sky radiation. Improving the architectural building components, including building materials, is an option to reduce energy consumption in a building. Using renewable energy sources is another option to reduce the consumption of non-renewable energy. In residential buildings, solar energy has been utilized for space heating and domestic hot water using active solar collector systems and for generating electricity using photovoltaic (PV) systems. One photovoltaic system, the hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) collector system, has been developed by several researchers over the last 20 years. The hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) collector system is a combination photovoltaic (for producing electricity) and solar thermal collector (for producing hot water). Theoretical and experimental studies of this collector have highlighted the advantages of the hybrid PV-T collector system over separate systems of PV and solar collector in term of system efficiency and economics. Unfortunately, very little experimental data exists that demonstrates the advantages of a combined system. Therefore, one of the objectives of this study conducted was an experimental study of this system as an auxiliary energy source for a residential building. Night sky radiation has also been studied as a cooling strategy. However, no attempt so far could be found to integrate it to a hybrid PV-T collector system. The night sky radiation strategy could be operated with the hybrid PV/T collector system by using existing resources that are already present in the solar system. The integration of the night sky radiation into the hybrid PV-T collector system should yield more productivity of the system than the operation of the Hybrid PVT system alone. The research methods used in this work included instrumentation of a case-study house in Thailand, an experimental PV-T collector system, and a calibrated building thermal simulation. A typical contemporary Thai residential building was selected as a case-study house. Its energy use and local weather data were measured and analyzed. Published energy use of Thai residential buildings was also analyzed as well to determine average energy consumption. A calibrated computer model of the case-study building was constructed using the DOE-2 program. A field experiment of the thermal PV system was constructed to test its ability to simultaneously produce electricity and hot water in the daytime, and shed heat at night as a cooling strategy (i.e., night sky radiation). The resultant electricity and hot water produced by the hybrid PV-T collector system helped to reduce the use of non-renewable energy. The cooling produced by the night sky radiation also has to potential to reduce the cooling load. The evaluation of the case-study house and results of the field experiment helped to quantify the potential reduction of energy use in Thai residential buildings. This research provided the following benefits: 1) experimental results of a hybrid PV-T solar collector system that demonstrates its performance compared to typical system of separate photovoltaic and solar collector, 2) results of night sky radiation experiments using a photovoltaic panel as a radiator to demonstrate the performance of this new space cooling strategy, and 3) useful data from the case-study house simulation results and guidelines to assist others in transferring the results to other projects.

From the various studies, it can be concluded that the excessive summer heating and the humidity are one of the major problems of the hot, humid climatic region. The literature review for this study shows that natural ventilation alone cannot meet year long optimum indoor comfort in buildings. This research, through a design exercise, intends to verify whether a naturally ventilated house, in hot humid region of Austin, TX, can enhance its passive cooling potential through double‐walled wind catcher and solar chimney. In this research, a passive solar residence has been designed. Two designs have been explored on the chosen site: a basecase design without the wind catcher and solar chimney and another design with wind catcher and solar chimney. In the designcase, the placement of the wind catcher and the solar chimney has been designed so that a thermal siphon of airflow inside the building can be created. The design might show that there will be a natural airflow during the time of the year when natural wind does not flow. Moreover, the double walled wind catcher will resist the cool winter wind due to its shape and orientation. In the design, the placement of the wind catcher and the solar chimney has been done so that a thermal siphon inside the building can be created. Therefore, inside the home, there will be a natural airflow during the time of the year when natural wind does not flow. The double walled wind catcher has been designed and placed according to the orientation of the building in order to achieve the optimum wind flow throughout the year. The solar chimney has been placed in a certain part of the building where it can get maximum solar exposure. By comparing two cases, it can be clearly said that there will some kind of changed indoor comfort level. Since the potential of the design has been judged through perception, a computational fluid dynamics simulation analysis for a year is to be done.

Many attempts have been made to design buildings that reduce the heat gain inside the building. In hot-humid region, architects deal with many forces of nature. These forces might be Rain, Humidity, and solar heat gain. Thermal mass was been used for centuries in hot-arid region as a way to limit the dry-bulb temperature swing inside the building. However, there are some architects who agree that thermal mass materials could be used in hot-humid climate. This thesis project suggests using ventilated envelope that incorporates thermal mass in the design of the ventilated envelope. The result of the experiment shows that using ventilated envelopes with thermal mass would allow the heat gained in the cladding and in the thermal mass to be released to the air cavity and therefore releasing the heat from the building to the exterior atmosphere. The ventilated facade could be improved by adding thermal insulation and by using reflective materials on the cladding.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate to what extent regulated office clothing affects the perception and adaptation of office workers to the thermal conditions surrounding their work environments, focusing on the city of Enugu in South Eastern Nigeria which has hot humid climatic conditions. Clothing, regarded as a second skin, allows us to adapt or adjust to the thermal conditions in our immediate surrounding environment. It also affects our perception of the thermal environment. In some offices however employees are expected to wear regulated clothing or uniforms, during the working day; for various corporate identity reasons. Field studies were undertaken in office spaces in Enugu involving the behavioural and environmental analysis of thermal comfort conditions in six typical case study office spaces, at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). The thesis adopted a mixed‐mode methodological process; combining a quantitative and qualitative approach to data collection and analysis. The field research analysis found that all office spaces analysed were in compliance with the adaptive thermal comfort component of the ASHRAE Standard 55‐2013. The results however did not comply with the adaptive thermal comfort of CEN/EN 15251‐2007. The thermal sensation component of the results suggests a neutral temperature of 28.80C, with 80% thermal satisfaction, in a comfort range of between 25.40C and 32.20C. The thermal comfort vote indicates that approximately 85% of office workers with flexible clothing policy were comfortable at that comfort range, whilst only 55% of workers who had to adhere to a strict uniform policy voted that they were comfortable. The key research findings were: Firstly, the field observations and semi-structured interviews undertaken indicated that the strict uniform policy of FRSC office workers contributed substantially to the limited adaptation of staff to their workspace thermal conditions. Also, of all the thermal variables recorded during the field survey, clothing insulation had the strongest correlations to the thermal sensation of participants in the survey compared to indoor operative temperature, outdoor air temperature, relative humidity or metabolic rate. Furthermore, it is possible for workers in naturally ventilated office buildings in the hot humid climate zone of Enugu to achieve thermal comfort in higher temperature conditions through clothing adaptation.

No description available.

Thermal mass can be successfully implemented in the hot‐humid region of Austin, TX especially when well designed and with supplementary aids like nightcooling and day‐lighting. This study shows that in some situations thermal mass can be actually more beneficial at reducing electricity demands in hot‐humid regions than in the hot‐dry regions that are so emphasized in the literature. / text

Orientador: Lucila Chebel Labaki / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T14:17:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Costa_AngelinaDiasLeao_D.pdf: 32413160 bytes, checksum: ec2ca71b106a4ab0c27023a5c4efbc30 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: A ocupação do solo urbano influencia na qualidade térmica dos ambientes que permeiam as edificações proporcionando a existência de microclimas diferenciados dentro de uma mesma cidade; por outro lado há uma necessidade crescente de se desenvolver novas estratégias de planejamento que utilizem dados fornecidos pela climatologia e permitam a continuidade do crescimento dessas áreas de forma que a população possa viver em um ambiente equilibrado. Nesse sentido, esta tese objetiva analisar a distribuição da temperatura do ar na área urbana de uma cidade de baixa latitude e clima quente e úmido, através da proposição de uma metodologia de medição em pontos fixos, correlacionando-a com os tipos de revestimento da superfície horizontal (cobertura e piso) existentes; tendo Natal/RN como área objeto de estudo. A metodologia sintetiza práticas correntes em estudos de campo, através da tomada de dados em 02 épocas do ano distintas (verão e inverno), hora a hora, durante 07 dias típicos, em 20 pontos fixos distribuídos na cidade, com equipamentos do tipo loggers aferindo temperatura e umidade relativa do ar. Foi desenvolvida uma proteção para os equipamentos registradores para medição ao ar livre e utilizou-se de terrenos de torres de telefonia celular para as medições, pioneiramente. Também foram mapeados 0,31km2 quanto à ocupação do solo nos entornos dos pontos, com a ajuda do processamento digital de imagem de satélite. Analisaram-se estatisticamente dados dos períodos de verão e inverno separadamente e comparativamente, e os pontos de coleta semelhantes foram agrupados com relação ao comportamento térmico em 05 grupos. Além disso, foi proposto um indicador de composição de revestimento horizontal que, relacionado à temperatura do ar, gerou mapas temáticos confirmando que áreas urbanas com menor porcentagem de área permeável têm suas temperaturas mais elevadas. Verificou-se que a temperatura do ar não é homogênea na cidade; e que as diferenças microclimáticas são pequenas em valores absolutos (o que possivelmente se deve à influência da ventilação predominante Sudeste proveniente do mar), mas são significativas e devem ser consideradas. Concluiuse ainda que essas diferenças são decorrentes do período, turno e hora de medição e ainda das diversas configurações urbanas encontradas, incluindo os revestimentos das superfícies horizontais existentes na cidade (cobertura e piso), mas os resultados devem ser considerados ponto a ponto. A metodologia de medição em pontos fixos, desenvolvida e testada, pode ser aplicada em cidades localizadas em localidades de baixa latitude e clima quente e úmido, e sugere-se que a taxa de permeabilidade na cidade seja revista, considerando-se a ótica do bairro / Abstract: The occupation of the urban soil influences on the thermal quality of the cities that permeates the constructions providing microclimatic differences inside the same city; on the other hand there is a growing need to develop new planning strategies, so that data supplied by the climatology can be used and allow the continuity of the growth of those areas, so that the population can live in a balanced urban area. In that sense, this thesis aims to analyze the air temperature distribution in the urban area of low latitude cities with hot and humid climate, through the proposition of a measurement methodology in fixed points, correlating it with the types of existent horizontal surfaces pavements (covering and floor); the city of Natal/RN is the study object. The methodology synthesizes average practices in field studies, through hourly data measurement in 02 different seasons of the year (summer and winter), for 07 typical days, in 20 dispersed fixed points in the city, with loggers equipments collecting air temperature and relative humidity data. A protection was developed to equipments for outdoor recording and it was used cellular telephony towers basis for the measurements. Also 0,31km2 were mapped as for the occupation of the soil around the points, with digital processing of satellite image. Summer and winter collected data were statistically analyzed, separately and comparatively, and groups of similar points were organized regarding the thermal behavior in 05 groups. An indicator of composition of horizontal covering was proposed and related to the air temperature generated thematic maps, confirming that urban areas with higher temperatures have smaller percentage of permeable area. It was verified that the air temperature is not homogeneous in the city; that the microclimatic differences exist and are small in absolute values (what is possibly due to the influence of the Southeast predominant wind originating from the sea), but they should be considered. It was concluded that although those differences are consequence of the period, shift and hour of measurement and still of the several found urban configurations, including the coverings of the existent horizontal surfaces in the city (covering and floor), but that the results should be considered point to point. The measurement methodology in fixed points developed and tested can be applied in cities with low latitude and hot and humid climate, and in conclusion it is suggested that the permeability percentage in the city must be reviewed considering the particular occupation of neighborhoods / Doutorado / Arquitetura e Construção / Doutor em Engenharia Civil

The study relates international knowledge of climatically responsive and energy-efficient design to work done in South Africa. It also explores the relevance of design devices from international regions to the climates of this country. The research approach explores existing analyses of the main climate regions and the effects of climate factors on human comfort in each, in order to derive appropriate design solutions for the climate of South Africa. In South Africa obstacles exist in the face of energy efficiency. The cheapness of electricity to the consumer and the virtual non-existence of appropriate legislation appear to be two of the most significant obstacles. Design and subsequent construction of suburban residences is carried out with little regard for climatic context. Water is shown to be a particularly scarce and unevenly distributed commodity, which the affluent have greater access to and consume in greater quantities. However, it is demonstrated that the South African climate is virtually ideal for several climate-responsive energy-efficiency techniques. Especially due to the high solar radiation levels there is potential for various active and passive solar design techniques and technologies. The impact of atmospheric temperature and humidity, wind, radiation and precipitation on human comfort is investigated. Humidity and wind are demonstrated to be very influential on human comfort, whereas radiation and wind are the most easily manipulated through design. Furthermore, the specific topography and location of a site can influence the microclimate and solar access of an area to a significant degree. The South African climate is predominantly either hot semi-arid or temperate. Most of the western interior is hot arid whereas the eastern interior and highveld is predominantly temperate, with temperatures increasing to the north and decreasing to the south. The only cool region of the country is found in the highlands of the Drakensberg, with a significant portion of the eastern coast being hot humid. Methodologies and guidelines for both layout, or macro design, and detailed design of residential suburbs are explored. The manipulation of solar radiation, sunlight and wind, as well as the management of rainwater and used household water is explored. It is shown that designing suburbs to create access to solar radiation forms the basis of solar design, with solar access control, material and surface treatment largely determining the success of individual designs. Wind manipulation is achieved mainly through planting design, influencing mostly heat loss and gain ratios into buildings. Effective household water management can substantially reduce its consumption. Further research is needed in all aspects of climate-responsive design, especially classification of the South African climate and development of design techniques adapted to this context. / Dissertation (M (Landscape Architecture))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Architecture / unrestricted

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T13:56:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PatriciaVT_capa_ate_cap1_.pdf: 2021691 bytes, checksum: 8f29e932ee450f2f59d070013ff553ae (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-02-28 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The present research concerns about outdoor s thermal comfort conditions in hot-humid climate cities, understanding that life quality is a result of the urban object s type built for the human being in an environment with specific climate and morphological characteristics. It is presented as object of study the correlation between the neighborhood Renascen?a II s microclimate in S?o Luis /MA-Brazil, hot-humid climate city, and its urban morphological changes. As well as the thermal comfort s satisfaction level of its outdoor users. The research has as general goal to diagnosis the way these transformations caused by the urbanization influence the Renascen?a II s microclimate, identifying critical spots of the studied area, in order to contribute with land use recommendations based on bioclimatic architecture concepts and supply bases to urban design decisions adequate to the S?o Luis climate. It is presented as theoretical bases the urban climate, its concepts and elements. After that, the thermal comfort conditioners and its prediction models of thermal comfort sensation in outdoor are presented. The predictive models are presented along with bioclimatic assessment methods. Finally the use of bioclimatic assessment as an effective tool to identify places that need changes or preservation in order to seek environment quality. The applied methodology was based on the studies of Katzschner (1997), complemented by Oliveira s (1988) and Bustos Romero s (2001) studies that suggest an analysis and evaluation of maps of topography, buildings floors, land use, green areas and land covering, in order to overlap their characteristics and identify climate variable s measurements points; then a quantitative analysis of the climate variables (air temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction) of the chosen points takes place. It was perceived that Renaissance II has no permanence areas as squares or parks, its outdoor has little vegetation and presets high land impermeability and built density levels. The majority of the people interviewed said that was comfortable in a range of air temperature between 27,28?C and 30,71?C. The elaboration of a neighborhood master plan is important, which defines strategies for improvement of the life quality of its inhabitants / O presente trabalho parte das preocupa??es com as condi??es de conforto t?rmico dos espa?os externos em cidades de clima quente-?mido, entendendo que a qualidade de vida neste ambiente ? fruto do tipo de objeto urbano constru?do para a viv?ncia humana em um meio ambiente com clima e caracter?sticas morfol?gicas espec?ficas. Apresenta-se como objeto de estudo a correla??o entre o microclima do Bairro do Renascen?a II em S?o Luis/MA, cidade de clima quente ?mido frente ?s mudan?as nas caracter?sticas morfol?gicas urbana e o ?ndice de satisfa??o de conforto t?rmico dos usu?rios dos espa?os externos do bairro em quest?o. Tem como objetivo geral diagnosticar a maneira como as transforma??es ocasionadas pela urbaniza??o influenciam o microclima do Renascen?a II, identificando ?reas cr?ticas da ?rea estudada, a fim de contribuir com recomenda??es de uso e ocupa??o do solo baseadas em conceitos de arquitetura bioclim?tica e fornecer subs?dios a futuras decis?es projetuais urbanas adequadas ao clima quente e ?mido de S?o Luis-MA. Apresenta-se como fundamenta??o te?rica o clima urbano, seus conceitos, elementos formadores e condicionantes. Em seguida, os condicionantes do conforto t?rmico e seus modelos de predi??o de sensa??o de conforto t?rmico em espa?os externos. Foram levantados os modelos preditivos de conforto e estresse t?rmico como ferramenta junto ? an?lise bioclim?tica. E finalmente a utiliza??o da an?lise bioclim?tica no diagn?stico do conforto t?rmico de ?reas urbanas, com sua efic?cia na identifica??o de locais que necessitam de mudan?as quanto ao conforto ambiental, merecendo aten??o ou at? prote??o; e suas estrat?gias na busca por cidades mais adequadas ao seu meio natural, resultando no urbanismo bioclim?tico. A metodologia aplicada baseou-se nos estudos de Katzschner (1997), complementados por Oliveira (1988) e Bustos Romero (2001) que sugerem uma an?lise e avalia??o de mapas de topografia, altura das edifica??es, uso do solo, ?reas verdes e tipo de cobertura do solo, para superposi??o e identifica??o de pontos para medi??o; a partir da? uma an?lise quantitativa com aferi??o das vari?veis ambientais (temperatura e umidade do ar, a velocidade e a dire??o dos ventos) nos pontos escolhidos. Percebeu-se que o bairro do Renascen?a II n?o possui ?reas de perman?ncia como pra?as e parques, as suas ?reas externas possuem pouca arboriza??o e apresenta alto ?ndice de impermeabilidade e alta densidade construtiva. A maioria dos entrevistados disse estar confort?vel em uma faixa de temperatura do ar entre 27,28? e 30,71?C. ? importante a elabora??o de um plano diretor para o bairro, definindo de estrat?gias para melhoria da qualidade de vida de seus habitantes