Abstract
The use of air-conditioning (AC) in conjunction with high-volume, low-speed (HVLS) fan has become a trend in retrofitted mosque buildings in Malaysia to improve thermal comfort conditions. However, the energy impact of operating AC and HVLS fan simultaneously is unknown. This study compares the annual energy consumptions between mosques with and without HVLS fan installed and investigates the optimum temperature setpoints and operational profile to improve the mosques' energy efficiency. The comparison using the Building Energy Index (BEI) did not clearly show the superiority between the two groups in terms of energy performance. The study found that both studied mosques could produce around 1-4.9% energy reduction when the AC temperature setpoint was increased by 1˚C and could result in the highest cost-saving of about 4.9% when the temperature was set at 27˚C. A 30-minute AC operation during each daily prayer, except Subuh, could save between 14.8-16.7% annual energy consumption and about 15.15-16.6% annual energy cost. The paper concludes that the selection of 24-27˚C temperature setpoints with a 30-minute AC operational profile during prayers time with consideration Friday prayers and Ramadhan activities produced 18.4-20.6% savings in energy cost. This study calls for reevaluations of AC temperature setpoints configuration standards and operational characteristics in mosque buildings to reduce the buildings' energy consumption. This paper contributes to the development of future energy standards for mosque designs and operations in Malaysia.
Highlights
Mosques are a religious building type that is an essential part of any Muslim civil society
The extent to which the concurrent operation of both AC and HVLS fans affects the mosques' energy performance still remains unclear. Do these mosques achieve the required thermal comfort while consuming the least energy? This paper argues that when the operations of both AC system and HVLS fans are improperly designed, it could result in additional, unnecessary amounts of energy
This study revealed that 27 ̊C of AC temperature setting produced the highest reduction in Building Energy Intensity (BEI), mosque operators can adjust the temperature setpoint according to the thermal preference of the worshippers
Summary
Mosques are a religious building type that is an essential part of any Muslim civil society. The extent to which the concurrent operation of both AC and HVLS fans affects the mosques' energy performance still remains unclear Do these mosques achieve the required thermal comfort while consuming the least energy? The high BEI results from Al-Homoud et al (2005b) and Hussin et al (2019) highlight the need for more energy retrofit measures in mosque buildings. These studies focused on airconditioned mosques, they ignored the usage of HVLS fans
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