Passive Design Techniques Research Articles

The Potential of Atrium Design to Maximize the Passive Cooling Effect for Low-Rise Public Buildings in Malaysia

One of the passive design techniques is the atrium, which can have certain effects on a building inside environment. One of the key considerations when designing a building, especially in a hot, humid area, is the ventilation component. Natural ventilation has the ability to increase a building’s energy efficiency. It can be incorporated into the design of buildings to provide indoor airflow and provide comfortable experiences for the users of the buildings. The integration of an atrium which serve an area for air movement could enhance the cooling of a building. Apart from that, it is crucial to rethink the sustainable design of public buildings by reducing the energy consumption to minimal the greenhouse gas emissions for the environment. Hence, this research was executed to study the potential of atrium design to maximize the passive cooling effect for low-rise public buildings in Malaysia. It might help people appreciate the value of using natural ventilation while creating an atrium that is suitable for a hot, humid region.

Modern technological solutions for the construction of energy-efficient buildings

This article delves into the pivotal role of modern technological solutions in addressing the imperative need for energy-efficient buildings. It explores various innovative approaches and advancements in construction practices aimed at reducing energy consumption and mitigating the impact of buildings on the environment. Through a comprehensive analysis, the article highlights the significance of passive design techniques, advanced insulation materials, high-performance windows, smart building automation systems, renewable energy integration, and other cutting-edge solutions in enhancing the energy efficiency of buildings. Drawing upon case studies and real-world examples, the article demonstrates the practical application and benefits of these technologies in creating sustainable built environments. Moreover, it addresses challenges and future directions for the widespread adoption of energy-efficient building practices, emphasizing the critical role of technological innovation in achieving energy efficiency goals and fostering environmental sustainability. This article is an invaluable resource for architects, engineers, policymakers, and stakeholders in the construction industry seeking to embrace and implement modern technological solutions for energy-efficient building construction.

INTEGRATED PUBLIC SPACE DESIGN WITH A PASSIVE ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH IN THE TINGKIR SUB-DISTRICT, SALATIGA

Public places that provide a secure, welcoming, and beautiful environment are becoming increasingly important to enhance community welfare. The government is attempting to enhance public services in Salatiga's Tingkir sub-district by creating an integrated public space design for the neighbourhood. Presenting this integrated public space is difficult as it must allow for various community activities in a typical community area, including sports, education, recreation, and events. In response to this problem, a passive design strategy that optimises building operations and conserves resources by considering context and microclimate elements is given in the design of a public space. These include modifications to the traditional Javanese stilt house form, skylights for daylighting, and roof protection against predicted excessive rains and sunshine. Integrated public space planning aims to fulfil many communities' requirements and provide a visually stunning and sustainable environment for everyone via these strategies. This study's most effective passive design techniques are adapting the traditional stilt house model to increase natural ventilation on artificial cooling systems and roof protection as shading, which can effectively regulate temperature. These methods are anticipated to enhance public spaces' overall sustainability and livability, transforming them into ecologically conscious and neighbourhood-focused hubs of activity and engagement.

Vernacular Passive Design With Natural Ventilation of Banjar Housing for Thermal Comfort

Thermal comfort research in Indonesia is known between 23 C and 25 C for dwelling buildings. As tropical weather is characterized by high humidity, high temperature, and intense solar insolation; therefore, traditional tropical housing is predominantly dependent on natural ventilation and passive cooling for thermal comfort. In the literature and practice, there is a gap in knowledge on traditional Banjar vernacular housing. Therefore, a thermal comfort field identification survey was conducted in the Balai Laki House one of the 11 types of traditional Banjar, which included information on the use of building space layout. The measurement results concluded that the category of thermal comfort is in the comfortably warm range, with the THI (Temperature Humidity Index) temperature range between 26,24 - 27,06 C . In addition, the upper threshold for comfortable warm conditions is indicated range of 27,29 - 31,28 C . The results revealed that the efficacy of traditional passive design techniques would not be sufficient to achieve thermal comfort in the predicted future climate scenario. For this reason, the authors suggested that the passive design techniques of Banjar vernacular housing need to be improved, with innovative solutions in order to cope with the changing climate.

Green roof energy performance in different climate zones: a simulation study

Green roofs are widely used as a passive building design technique to decrease the cooling demand in buildings. The vegetation uses the energy of the surroundings during the evapotranspiration process, leading to a temperature decrease in air. This paper investigates the effectiveness of green roofs in 45 cities in different climate zones. The simulation of the energy performance of buildings is performed using DesignBuilder software, which integrates the EnergyPlus engine. The results show that green roofs effectively reduce the cooling load but increase heating energy consumption. The highest performance in total energy savings was in the arid zone with savings ranging from 3.2% to 9.1%, despite having a high heating demand. Tropic and temperate zones show relatively lower results, which vary from 1.4% to 4.1% and -0.2% to 4.2%. The cold zone shows the worst result, ranging by around 1%. Thus, green roofs show better performance in cities with high-temperature ranges, direct radiation, and humidity level.

EVALUATION OF ENERGY-COST-EFFICIENT DESIGN ALTERNATIVES FOR RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN KARNATAKA’S TROPICAL WET AND DRY CLIMATIC ZONES

Introduction: The existing building construction techniques in India account for increased operating energy consumption. Due to this, there is a need to apply sustainable construction methods by including passive design techniques. In accordance with the local climatic condition, a good passive design not only maintains a comfortable environment in the house, but also consumes less energy all the while performing the same basic functions as the traditional structures. Purpose of the study: The present research focuses on residential villas by analyzing parameters such as illuminance, energy, and cost consumption using Revit (Insight 360) software with two different cases. Methods: Considering Case1 as an existing villa of conventional design and Case2 presenting a proposed villa, a remodeling of the existing villa with an increased window wall ratio (WWR), different fenestration designs, and a new building plan. The authors followed the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) guidelines relating to illuminance and generated an analytical energy model using Insight 360 to compare the energy consumption and cost efficiency of the cases. Results: The effectiveness of various fenestration types related to direct heat gain, window orientation that would provide more natural light, total operating energy consumption and costs of two different cases of villas are investigated in this paper.

ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF ECO-APARTMENT BUILDINGS IN UZBEKISTAN: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DESIGN STRATEGIES AND USER SATISFACTION

This study compares design approaches and user satisfaction to evaluate the effectiveness of eco-apartment buildings in Uzbekistan. A resident survey and an assessment of the performance of the building are two of the mixed-methods research techniques used in this study. The goal of the study is to determine the best design approaches for Uzbek eco-apartment structures and to comprehend the elements that influence user happiness. The study's conclusions show that design tactics including using sustainable materials, passive design techniques, and effective building systems have a big impact on how well eco-apartment buildings operate. The research also highlights a number of elements that affect user pleasure, such as noise reduction, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality.

Evaluating the influence of passive design techniques of warm and humid climate in a traditional building at Chennai

In recent years, traditional buildings have gained significant attention from a number of dwellers. In a country like India, a considerable part of the county experiences warm and humid weather and such tropical conditions pose a significant challenge from a sustainable perspective. The principles of vernacular architecture and its contribution to the world of architecture have evolved. While active and passive design strategies are the best possible solutions, taken up by architects to design the traditional buildings, the current research paper takes a context-driven passive design strategy to provide the best possible comfort for the inhabitants of warm and humid climates using a traditional building design. The study identified temperature, ventilation, materials and the construction techniques as the major factors that influence design strategies, which aim at providing thermal comfort to the users. In this study, a case building was evaluated through context-driven analysis. The data was collected through field study and surveys. Then, the collected data was consolidated and analysed. The findings reveal that spatial planning, materials and the construction techniques driven by the context altogether impact the environment positively.

Role of Passive Design Techniques for a Comfortable Indoor Environment: Comparison between Tradition & Modern Architecture in Hot Climate

Abstract: This research aims to investigate the role of passive design techniques in creating a comfortable indoor environment in hot climates. It specifically focuses on comparing traditional and modern architectural approaches and their effectiveness in providing thermal comfort, energy efficiency, and sustainability. The study will explore the design principles, strategies, and technologies employed in both traditional and modern architecture to mitigate the impact of hot climates on indoor comfort. By analyzing various case studies and evaluating their performance, this research will provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each architectural style and offer recommendations for designing sustainable and comfortable indoor spaces in hot climate regions.

Evaluation of building energy load of a multipurpose hall and its optimization through spectrally selective fenestration and passive design concepts

Sports complexes and recreational centers are large and long-term investments that provide integrated facilities for training athletes and hosting social-cultural events. Due to their daily functioning, such buildings involve high energy consumption resulting in environmental impacts at both local and global scales. This article investigates the currently available methods for assessing the performance characteristics of a Multipurpose Hall using passive design techniques by modifying the building materials used for the wall envelope and fenestration design. Given that the proposed Multipurpose Hall is located near the composite climate of New Delhi, India, a study of climatic responses together with an energy evaluation of the building provides insight into the important envelope design for enhancing a building's energy efficiency. Several energy simulations were performed using DesignBuilder software to determine the annual lighting, heating, and cooling consumption for wall envelopes, window glazings, and dynamic shading techniques. Additionally, the solar gain of various fenestration designs was investigated, and the most energy-efficient building envelope was selected. The comparison of the baseline envelope with the modified envelope design revealed a notable improvement in energy performance.

Energy, Thermal, and Economic Benefits of Aerogel Glazing Systems for Educational Buildings in Hot Arid Climates

The high cost of air conditioning during the summer makes it crucial to develop strategies to reduce energy use in buildings, especially in hot arid climates. Nanomaterial-based external window insulation is considered an effective method for achieving this goal. This research examines the effectiveness of using aerogel-based glazing systems combined with passive design techniques to improve energy efficiency in buildings in hot arid regions. This study presents various scenarios, including building orientation and aspect ratio, utilizing field measurements and energy simulations with aerogel-filled windows. This study is two-phased. The first phase compares two rooms with aerogel and conventional glazing in Aswan. The new glazing system made the room 0.3–1.9 °C cooler. The second phase simulated the Egyptian Japanese School in Aswan to assess the effects of aerogel glazing systems and altering the enclosed semi-open courtyard’s building orientation and aspect ratio. Results show that using aerogel glazing systems and altering the building orientation and aspect ratio can significantly reduce energy consumption and improve indoor thermal comfort. The results reveal that Scenario 1, which represents using aerogel glazing in the northern façade, could reduce the average air temperature between 0.30 and 1.49 °C below the base case (BC). Scenario 3, which used aerogel glazing on the southern facade, reduced annual energy consumption by 26.3% compared to the BC. Meanwhile, Scenario 5, a semi-open courtyard with an aerogel glazing system and an aspect ratio of 2.40, could save 25.7% more energy than Scenario 1. The economic viability of the scenarios was also analyzed using a simple payback period analysis, with Scenario 3 having the second-shortest payback period of 4.13 years. By insulating the exterior panes of windows, this study proposes that adopting aerogel glazing systems can make windows more cost-effective and ecologically sustainable.

An octave bandwidth Class-J power amplifier with second harmonic termination control

A purely passive design technique for a class-J power amplifier (PA) is proposed, based on complex terminations at the fundamental frequency and the second harmonic, which increases the bandwidth while maintaining high efficiency. Using combined analytical derivation and numerical simulations, the drain impedance termination locus curve is obtained in the drain efficiency and DC voltage spaces. Successive application of the newly proposed de-normalization technique avoids the drain DC voltage manipulation used elsewhere. This is due to the resulting variable reactance of the output drain-source capacitor, optimal over a wide frequency range. Following the proposed procedure and the obtained optimal parametric space, a GaN HEMT-based PA is designed, fabricated, and tested displaying a very good agreement of the predicted and measured results.

Improving Sri Lankan Buildings' Energy Efficiency Through Bioclimatic Classification and Potential Assessment

As a result of lifestyle changes, the energy requirement for thermal comfort has increased. To increase energy efficiency and reduce global warming, building design should consider the climate. An energy-efficient building code has been developed with the goal of reducing energy demand by 25%–40%. However, the code cannot be used because different stakeholders have different perspectives. Climate zones, which are required for building structures that are both energy-efficient and climate-responsive, do not exist in the country. From 1989 to 2019, hourly weather data has been collected for district headquarters. This research focuses on the bioclimatic classification of Sri Lankan buildings and passive design methods. Degree days have been calculated for various base temperatures using Hitchin's, Erb's, Schoenau and Kehring's, ASHRAE, UKMO, and Hourly methods. The degree-day maps for Sri Lanka were created using ArcGIS. The bioclimatic classification for Sri Lanka was developed by combining climate and degree-day data. Sri Lanka is divided into three bioclimatic zones: cold, hot, and intermediate. The design potential of each bioclimatic zone was calculated using BcChart V2.0. Natural ventilation is an effective passive design technique for increasing indoor comfort. In the cold, hot, and intermediate zones, its potential is 72%, 62%, and 80%, respectively.

AN ENVIRONMENT-ORIENTED HOUSE TO COMBINE PASSIVE DESIGN METHODS BY DWELLER’S ACTIVITY AS MODE-CHANGE, PART1: AN EVALUATION OF ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS FOR OPTIMIZING PASSIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUES

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a design method of environment-oriented house to optimize natural energy use such as natural ventilation and sun radiation throughout a year, by switching the combinations of several established passive design techniques as ‘Mode’. In this paper, according to the annual record of switching the modes by dweller with the measurement of temperature and energy, the cost of equipped architectural elements, contribution of workload by dweller, and the ratio of saving energy on air conditioning are evaluated as a reference.

Thermal Performance Assessment for Stacking Shipping Containers as habitable spaces: Cairo Case Study

The world is moving towards reuse, recycling, and low economic buildings in the AEC industry. Among these concepts, the reuse of shipping containers (SC) in architecture has seen a remarkable increase in recent times. Few studies have focused on the thermal performance of different stacking configurations using multiple SCs in hot climates to achieve the most suitable thermal performance and testing different passive design techniques. This study aims to know the most effective stacking configuration as a passive technique not tested before using SC as residential spaces in Cairo by analyzing its effect on their internal thermal performance. This paper presents a comparative analysis of four simulation models as separate residential units, including a control unit, an uninsulated SC, and three types of different configurations, three units horizontally connected, three units vertically connected, and the last model consists of three units connected both horizontally and vertically. The thermal performance of these units is tested as uninsulated SCs in the hottest and coldest days (23 August and 20 January, respectively) in the year using Design-Builder software. The paper concludes that the best configuration of SCs models that contribute to improving SC’s thermal performance in the hot climate is the vertical stacking configuration.

Comparative Study of Traditional and Contemporary Houses in Abbottabad: Environmental Impact Assessment

The use of new construction materials, active cooling and heating systems, and rising global temperatures are surprisingly harming our environment and are contributing to pollution and the depletion of the ozone layer. The study focuses on several thermal comfort strategies for residential building designs and passive design techniques used in Abbottabad, Pakistan,traditional houses. The research also offers a descriptive examination of a traditional and a modern built house, highlighting the problems caused by the absence of conventional passive design elements in the latter. The research comes to a conclusion and suggests environmental protection measures that modern homes should use in the future.

Capturing the Heritage of British Colonial School Building Through Measured Drawings in Malaysia

This research is to convey the analytical studies of the Pusat Latihan Polis (PULAPOL) Batu Lama School. This research aims to present detailed information of the endogenous influences, particularly during the British colonization era. PULAPOL was the first Police Training Centre in Malaysia. It is located at Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, Kuala Lumpur. It was constructed in 1938. The structural system used for the school’s construction was load-bearing brick masonry. The objectives of the studies are to: a) Increase the understanding and appreciation of Architectural Heritage of the Muslim World, b) Learn the techniques of measured drawings of heritage buildings with the emphasis on the building construction, detailing, research and documentation of the historical aspects of the building and its development, c) Appreciate the total concept and richness of the architectural heritage as well as to be able to value the environment and to understand the socio-economic-cultural way of life of local inhabitants. In general, the methodology adopted for the study is divided into pre-fieldwork, fieldwork and post-fieldwork. Data collected from interviews, case studies, observations, and measurements of the building. The data obtained from various methods are documented in reports and measured drawing. In conclusion, these research findings provide the chronology and history of the PULAPOL Batu Lama School that is rich in its historical values, materials used, construction techniques and passive design techniques.

Capturing the Heritage of British Colonial School Building Through Measured Drawings in Malaysia

This research is to convey the analytical studies of the Pusat Latihan Polis (PULAPOL) Batu Lama School. This research aims to present detailed information of the endogenous influences, particularly during the British colonization era. PULAPOL was the first Police Training Centre in Malaysia. It is located at Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, Kuala Lumpur. It was constructed in 1938. The structural system used for the school’s construction was load-bearing brick masonry. The objectives of the studies are to: a) Increase the understanding and appreciation of Architectural Heritage of the Muslim World, b) Learn the techniques of measured drawings of heritage buildings with the emphasis on the building construction, detailing, research and documentation of the historical aspects of the building and its development, c) Appreciate the total concept and richness of the architectural heritage as well as to be able to value the environment and to understand the socio-economic-cultural way of life of local inhabitants. In general, the methodology adopted for the study is divided into pre-fieldwork, fieldwork and post-fieldwork. Data collected from interviews, case studies, observations, and measurements of the building. The data obtained from various methods are documented in reports and measured drawing. In conclusion, these research findings provide the chronology and history of the PULAPOL Batu Lama School that is rich in its historical values, materials used, construction techniques and passive design techniques.

Heat Transfer in the Universal Form of High-rise Buildings in Various Climate Zones

ABSTRACT The design of form and facade in high-rise buildings impacts on energy consumption, especially in heating and cooling. Applying passive design techniques in building forms is a crucial step to decrease energy loads for heating and cooling in the design phase. This paper aims to show the energy required for and mechanism of heat transfer in universal forms of high-rise buildings (Extruder, Rotor, and Twister) in various climate zones. This article studies the heat gains and losses accumulated in the facade (including infiltration) based on the buildings’ forms and the climate where they are located. The simulation is conducted using Sefaira®. Energy consumption of thermal conditioning as the impact of heat transfer will also be discussed. The results show that climate plays a role in determining the heating and cooling performances of high-rise buildings with universal forms. The Rotor model performs the best for heating and cooling in all climate zones, while the Extruder model is most suitable in cold climates.

The impact of passive design strategies on cooling loads of buildings in temperate climate

Residential and commercial buildings consume over a third of the world's total energy. The residential sector accounts for most energy use in the Gaza Strip, necessitating the development of feasible energy-saving techniques. Herein, a simulation-based study has been prepared to examine the integration of some practical passive design strategies into a generic residence. The study aims to optimize thermal performance by minimizing the building's cooling loads. A detailed examination is conducted for the literature on similar research and passive design techniques to investigate a city's state and climate. Three passive parameters, namely, shading devices, natural ventilation, and thermal insulation, were investigated using Climate Consultant and IESve as assessment software. Accordingly, their impacts on the building's indoor temperature and cooling load were evaluated. The findings suggest that the implementation of such passive design parameters can reduce energy consumption by 9.89 kW, representing 59% of the total energy consumption of the building. Such integration in residential buildings could be significant in cities with limited natural resources and would guide architects, designers, engineers towards the potential of passive measures in building design.