Development of Bioclimatic Passive Designs for Office Building in Burkina Faso

Abstract

This article focuses on adopting effective and affordable bioclimatic building design strategies in Ouagadougou, in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso. A model representing a standard office building and relevant parameters were input in EnergyPlus, and scenarios were analyzed to evaluate the effect of natural ventilation, window shading, dehumidification with night ventilation, and evaporative cooling with night ventilation on thermal comfort and energy consumption. First, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 55 adaptive comfort model was used to compare discomfort hours and interior temperatures between a conventional office design and improved models using passive approaches. The simulations further tested the reduction in energy cooling demand and energy consumption. The results demonstrated that natural ventilation was the most effective passive cooling technique, helping to reduce the annual discomfort hours by 40% and the annual energy consumption by 30%. Combining passive strategies is the best scenario, with a year of office occupancy resulting in just 617 h of discomfort, a 42% reduction in the annual energy cooling demand, and a 43% reduction in the annual energy consumption. The simulations demonstrated the effectiveness of affordable passive design solutions applicable even in existing office buildings and their significance for the sustainable development of fast-urbanizing Sub-Saharan countries.