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"passive design"
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Improving the Thermal Environment of Abuja’s Affordable Housing Through Passive Design Solutions
West Africa is increasingly becoming more vulnerable to extreme heat due to climate change intensification with forecasts predicting hazardous heat days to double by 2060 affecting all societal classes and life sectors. This study examines the relationship between urbanisation, energy-efficient building design, and government guidelines within the Nigerian context. The review of the current national building codes and energy efficiency regulations revealed an alarming gap regarding the abandonment of basic sustainable design practices when addressing the needs of low-income housing. Validated simulations were used to assess the thermal performance of six distinct residential prototypes for low- and middle-income mass housing, which were previously developed by the government and are still used today as development blueprints. The effectiveness of incorporating passive design solutions into the selected prototypes was examined, providing insights into their thermal performance and practical recommendations for improving occupants’ comfort. The findings highlight the value of utilising a combination of passive design methods to achieve occupant thermal comfort, suggesting a reduction of up to 20% in the frequency of thermal discomfort during the hottest period of the year. The study advocates for more comprehensive guidelines to facilitate sustainable housing design that prioritises low-cost passive approaches to enhance indoor comfort and reduce reliance on conventional energy sources, ultimately fostering resilience in the face of climate change.
Journal Article
Multi-Objective Optimization of Envelope Design of Rural Tourism Buildings in Southeastern Coastal Areas of China Based on NSGA-II Algorithm and Entropy-Based TOPSIS Method
The rapid development of rural tourism and higher requirements for the indoor environments of rural tourism buildings (RTBs) have led to rapid growth in the energy consumption of RTBs. The aim of this work was to apply a new method to optimize the indoor thermal environments and energy performances of RTBs and promote scientific passive design strategies for RTBs in southeastern coastal areas of China. First, a field survey was carried out to understand the statuses of buildings and the energy consumption of RTBs. Through a building typology analysis, two types of RTBs (renovated from existing buildings and newly built) were chosen as the dominant types in the villages. Second, a comprehensive parametric study was conducted to examine the impact of energy consumption and the indoor thermal environment using a global sensitivity analysis. The passive design parameters with large sensitivity impacts were selected using the Sobol sampling method and by calculating the comprehensive contribution rates of the parameters. Then, the NSGA-II algorithm was used to simultaneously minimize the two objectives and generate the Pareto front solution sets of the two RTB types. Finally, by applying an entropy-based TOPSIS decision-making method, the optimal schemes (the best energy-saving solution, the best comfort solution, and the best compromise solution) for the two RTB types were further obtained from the feasible Pareto-optimal solutions, and the suggested values for the design parameters are presented. This study proposes a new multi-objective optimization approach combining the NSGA-II algorithm and an entropy-based TOPSIS decision-making method, and the findings are valuable, as they can help designers to improve the designs of rural tourism buildings.
Journal Article
Bioclimatic Analysis in Pre‐Design Stage of Passive House in Indonesia
The objective of this study is to investigate the climate characteristics of Indonesian regions using an Olgyay Bioclimatic chart, a Givoni–Milne Bioclimatic chart and a Mahoney Table as the pre‐design stage in the development of a passive house design standard for residential house construction in Indonesia. Jakarta was the city chosen for deep analysis, because it represents most of the Indonesian regions in terms of temperature and relative humidity. The Olgyay Bioclimatic chart showed that the climate needs a high wind velocity to counteract the vapor pressure and shading in order to reduce solar gain entering the building. The Givoni–Milne Bioclimatic chart proposed natural ventilation and shading devices, while the Mahoney Table recommends open spaces for protection against hot wind, rooms single‐banked and permanent provision for air movement. The composite size of the opening at body height is better to allow the wind to counter the high levels of humidity and temperature. Heavy walls and roofs are suggested, as well as the provision of protection devices for the high amount of rainfall. Energy simulation was also done to investigate the effectiveness of the passive strategy proposed by the bioclimatic analysis. These results give a contribution as the indispensable basis for the development of a passive house standard in Indonesia.
Journal Article
Energy-Efficient Building Design for a Tropical Climate: A Field Study on the Caribbean Island Curaçao
Based on an extensive literature review on passive building designs for tropical climates, seven energy-efficient building design principles for tropical climate areas were deduced. These are: 1. To orientate a building design in such a direction that it protects from excessive solar radiation; 2. To accommodate for indoor natural ventilation; 3. That it makes maximal use of indirect instead of direct natural light; 4, That it reduces the amount of heat transmission through the roof as much as possible by natural ventilation between roof and ceiling and by lowering the roof surface temperature; 5. By preventing the use of high thermal mass materials; 6. By reducing through the exterior walls as much as possible heat transmission by e.g., preventing direct sunlight on the external walls and applying reflective paints on the external walls and; 7. By creating outdoor and transition spaces such as balconies, terraces atriums and corridors. The insights from the literature review were used as input to conduct a field study to evaluate the practice of applying passive building design principles. To this end, for 626 buildings on the Caribbean island Curaçao, it was investigated to what extent the recommended passive design principles for tropical climates were actually applied. Based on the results of the field study, several recommendations are made to improve the practice of applying passive building principles.
Journal Article
Energy Efficiency of Tall Buildings: A Global Snapshot of Innovative Design
Design priorities for tall and supertall buildings have for some time shifted to achieving more energy efficiency to address the energy needs of the increasing global population. Engineers and architects aim to achieve energy conservation through active and passive approaches, pursuing technological innovations and adopting climate-responsive design. Because of the green movement currently dominating the building industry, tall buildings that need a massive amount of energy to build and operate, and the practical desire to switch from non-renewable to clean renewable energy resources, intense attention has been given to the energy efficiency of tall buildings in the recent past. Due to the vast array of energy-efficient design features, equipment, and applications available now, it is timely to examine the pros and cons of these issues. This review paper is an attempt to comprehensively present and deliberate these issues. It illustrates and discusses the concepts and applications through a few case studies from several continents worldwide. The review shows that the design of tall buildings focusing on energy conservation is an evolutionary process and there is a need for further research about how to face the associated challenges to improve energy efficiency by developing creative solutions and strategies, as well as applying additional innovative technologies.
Journal Article
Investigation on Summer Thermal Comfort and Passive Thermal Improvements in Naturally Ventilated Nepalese School Buildings
Students require a comfortable thermal environment for better academic learning and health in general. In Nepal, the majority of school buildings are constructed using local materials, but little consideration is provided to the thermal environment required for comfort. Therefore, this study demonstrates the advantages of using passive design measures through a simulation that can be used either in the early stages or as a retrofit to determine how the building performs in terms of comfort and the thermal environment. First, the thermal environment of school buildings and thermal comfort of students were evaluated through field surveys. Subsequently, a simulation was performed to investigate the operative temperatures in the classroom of a school building in Kathmandu. DesignBuilder software was used to create the base model and the simulated operative temperature was validated using the measured globe temperature. Subsequently, passive strategies, such as natural ventilation, insulation, and thermal mass, were applied and analysed. The field survey showed that the indoor globe and outdoor air temperatures were correlated, and the students perceived a hotter environment and preferred a cooler environment. Within this context, the average comfort temperature was 26.9 °C. The simulation results showed that the operative temperature was reduced to below 27 °C with a maximum reduction of 3.3 °C due to the integrated design impact, which is within the comfortable limit required during school hours. This study helps to design Nepalese school buildings in a better way by considering passive design strategies during architectural design to make classrooms more thermally comfortable.
Journal Article
Climate-Adaptive Passive Design Strategies for Near-Zero-Energy Office Buildings in Central and Southern Anhui, China
Driven by the global energy transition and China’s dual-carbon targets, Passive ultra-low-energy buildings are a key route for carbon reduction in the construction sector. This study addresses the high energy demand of office buildings and the limited suitability of current efficiency codes in the hot-summer/cold-winter, high-humidity zone of central and southern Anhui. Using multi-year climate records and energy-use surveys from five cities and one scenic area (2013–2024), we systematically investigate climate-adaptive passive-design strategies. Climate-Consultant simulations identify composite envelopes, external shading, and natural ventilation as the three most effective measures. Empirical evidence confirms that optimized envelope thermal properties significantly curb heating and cooling loads; a Huangshan office-building case validates the performance of the proposed passive measures, while analysis of a near-zero-energy demonstration project in Chuzhou yields a coordinated insulation-and-heat-rejection scheme. The results demonstrate that region-specific passive design can provide a comprehensive technical framework for ultra-low-energy buildings in transitional climates and thereby supporting China’s carbon-neutrality targets.
Journal Article
Determination of Optimum Passive Design Parameters for Industrial Buildings in Different Climate Zones Using an Energy Performance Optimization Model Based on an Artificial Neural Network
With a focus on reducing building energy consumption, approaches that simultaneously optimize multiple passive design parameters in industrial buildings have received limited attention. Most existing studies tend to examine building geometry or individual design parameters under limited scenarios, underscoring the potential benefits of adopting a comprehensive, multiparameter approach that integrates climate-responsive and sustainable design strategies. This study bridges that gap by systematically optimizing key passive design parameters—building geometry, orientation, window-to-wall ratio (WWR), and glazing type—to minimize energy loads and enhance sustainability across five distinct climate zones. Fifteen different building geometries with equal floor areas and volumes were analyzed, considering fifteen glazing types and multiple orientations varying by 30° increments. DesignBuilder simulations yielded 16,900 results, and due to the inherent challenges in directly optimizing building geometry within simulation environments, the data were restructured to reveal underlying relationships. An Energy Performance Optimization Model, based on a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm integrated with an Artificial Neural Network (ANN), was developed to identify optimal design solutions tailored to specific climatic conditions. The optimization results successfully determined the optimal combinations of building geometry, orientation, WWR, and glazing type to reduce heating and cooling loads, thereby promoting energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in industrial buildings. This study offers a practical design solution set and provides architects with actionable recommendations during the early design phase, establishing a machine learning-based framework for achieving sustainable, energy-efficient, and climate-responsive industrial building designs.
Journal Article