AHP Based Thermal Comfort Assessment through Passive Design Allocation in Tropical School Offices

Abstract

Since global environmental issues are widely discussed nowadays, a number of studies are being carried out to resolve the challenges of reducing energy usage in buildings, especially related to energy use to sustain the indoor thermal comfort level. Among the methodologies used, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is commonly used to study the problems with multiple influencing factors which consist of different degree of implications. In this study, this model is used to investigate the effectiveness and consistency of respondents’ feedback onto the utility of passive design features in office buildings in order to sustain the indoor thermal comfort levels besides depending on artificial cooling equipment. A number of 122 academic staff from 5 units of primary schools within urban areas in Seremban District was involved in the study. All the schools were equipped with passive design elements, but different types of mechanical ventilation systems were installed in particular schools. Questionnaires with Likert scales were distributed to assist the respondents rank their subjective opinions with objective numerical values. The outputs of rankings generated through AHP by the respondents in different schools were studied, and their validities were further analyzed with ANOVA tests to justify the consistency of the findings. The results showed that there is not much significant difference among the evaluated batches, and thus, model is potential to be further developed into a more comprehensive evaluation tool to link with unidentified environmental and physical factors which generate important design data for future building designers.