Building Height Effects on Indoor Air Temperature and Velocity in High Rise Residential Buildings in Tropical Climate
10 Pages Posted: 2 Oct 2014
Date Written: September 30, 2014
Abstract
Natural ventilation as a passive design strategy has been considered recently as an effective way to reduce energy consumption and create better indoor thermal condition. Different architectural elements and techniques have been applied in previous studies to increase the efficiency of ventilation systems in naturally ventilated buildings. However, limited researches have been carried out on the application of building characteristic such as form and height of building and their effects on overall indoor ventilation. Current study looks into the impact of building heights on the indoor air temperature and velocity and indicates that how this building character influences on indoor thermal condition. The field experiment was applied to evaluate indoor thermal condition in a high-rise building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Selection of units is based on the orientation and height with emphasis on outdoor prevailing wind direction. The results show that there are significant differences between mean air temperature and velocity within units in the lower and higher floors. The air temperature differences in the living and dining rooms in units are 1.2 C˚ and 1.54 C˚ respectively. The air temperature within the unit at higher floor is cooler than the unit at lower floor. This can be justified due to significant difference of indoor air velocity in the lower and upper levels. The results demonstrate that the amount of indoor wind in the living room at unit in the upper floor is four times higher than the amount for same room at unit in the lower floor. However, this value for the dining room is just two times more.
Keywords: Building height; Natural and mechanical ventilation; Passive design strategies; Residential building; Tropical climate
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation