The performance of the building envelope in high-rise residential related to occupant’s comfort

Abstract

The occupant’s comfort in a high rise residential is crucial. Especially related to thermal and noise problem. High rise residential generally has less protection against solar radiation, and its location is strategically prone to noise. Building envelope material is an important element that can maintain the problems. Precast concrete material is often used as a building envelope on high rise residential. Besides, the alternative material which is precast concrete-with-EPS-layer is also widely used. This research was conducted to determine the thermal and noise reduction of the two materials in maintaining occupant’s comfort. The method used is observation and field measurements in four residential units that use both materials as an opaque wall. The measuring instruments are a thermohygrometer and sound level meter. The results show that the sample with clear-single glass and the precast concrete-with-EPS-layer combination experienced a lower operative temperature. In the other hand, the sample with a precast concrete panel and clear-single glass combination have a lower sound transmission, with an average sound reduction value is 30 – 31 decibel. However, the presence of transparent material influenced the thermal and sound transmission measurement.