Report passive cooling natural lighting

Asian Architecture [ARC 2213/2234]

PROJECT 1: CASE STUDY

Passive Cooling and Natural Lighting as Effective

Strategies in Minimizing Energy Consumption in

Warehouse of Sekeping Serendah, Selangor.

NAME: Lim Chin Yi

STUDENT ID: 0315627

LECTURER: Mr. Koh Jing Hao

SUBMISSION DATE: 28 June 2016

TURNITIN RESULT

Passive Cooling and Natural Lighting as Effective Strategies in Minimizing Energy

Consumption in Warehouse, Sekeping Serendah

ARC 2213/2234 Asian Architecture 3

Passive Cooling and Natural Lighting as Effective Strategies in

Minimizing Energy Consumption in Warehouse of Sekeping

Serendah, Selangor.

Table of Contents Page

Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 4

1.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 5

2.0 Factors Affecting the Energy Consumption in building .................................... 5

3.0 Passive Design Features in Warehouse ......................................................... 7

3.1 Passive Cooling .......................................................................................... 7

3.1 Natural Lightng ........................................................................................... 9

4.0 Minimization of Energy Consumption in Warehouse ...... Error! Bookmark not

defined.

5.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 14

6.0 References ........................................................................................................ 15




Abstract

The purpose of doing a study on the passive design strategies used in Warehouse,

Sekeping Serendah is to identify the passive design features and how do they help to

reduce the consumption of energy in the building. This is important as the electricity

generation in Malaysia is mainly fossil fuel based. By reducing the demand for energy

consumption, lesser pollutants will be released to the environment and our dependence

on unrenewable sources that are becoming more limited by day will be reduced.

Literature reviews based on various sources such as books and internet were

conducted to gain understanding and validation on the passive design in the building. It

is found that 2 main design strategies were used in Warehouse, which are the passive

cooling and natural lighting method. Passive cooling methods found in the building are

internal cooling through sun shading devices such as roofs and surrounding plants;

natural ventilation through cross ventilation and layout planning; and thermal mass

cooling strategy. On the other hand, natural lighting in the building is enhanced with the

open layout planning and strategic placement of skylight. With the application of these

carefully considered passive design strategies, comfort of occupants could be

maintained with lower building energy use, hence reducing the total energy

consumption, especially the fossil-fuel based energy which currently as the primary

energy source in Malaysia.




1.0 Introduction

Electricity has become one of the necessities in the modern era. The electricity in

Malaysia is generated through several methods, which are thermal power generation,

hydropower generation and co-generation. Figure1.0 shows the percentages of

electricity generated by different power sources in year 2013. According to the figure,

thermal stations made up to 88% of the total electricity generated in Malaysia in 2013.

Hence, it is concluded that thermal power is the main method of to generate power in

Malaysia. The use of thermal plant has brought us a lot of convenience in life. However,

the combustion of fuels during the process has also caused thermal and air pollution to

the environment. Therefore, it is important to reduce the energy consumption to lower

the energy demand.

.

Tony Arnel (n.d.), the chairman of world green building council once said that, “The

building sector, which consumes as much as 40 percent of the world’s energy, 12

percent of its water and contributes 40 percent of the waste sent to landfill, is a major

part of this global problem. However, the building sector can be an even bigger part of

the solution.” This suggested that the reduce of energy consumption could be done

from the building sector which consumed a huge part of the energy produced. As a

solution, passive design has been applied widely by architects when designing building

to achieve a more sustainable building that required less energy.

Sekeping Serendah is a resort for retreat in Serendah, Rawang design by Ng Sek San.

It consists of 10 sheds built within 5 acres of the tropical rainforest, including the glass

sheds, timber sheds, mud sheds, warehouses and glass boxes. This paper will

investigate the passive design strategies used for the warehouse units in minimizing

the energy consumption by responding to the following questions:

Question1: What are the factors affecting energy consumption in the building?

Question2: What are the significant passive cooling features in Warehouse?

Question3: What are the significant natural lighting features in Warehouse?

Question4: How does the passive design features minimize the energy consumption in

Warehouse, Sekeping Serendah?

Figure 1.0: Percentages of Electricity Generated by Power Sources in Malaysia Sources: (Malaysia Energy Information Hub, 2015).




2.0 Factors Affecting The Energy Consumption In Building

There are some main factors that are affecting the energy consumption in a building;

which are the users’ consumption behaviour and the use of appliances. The

consumption behaviour of users varies according to individual. Some individual may

have higher energy consumption compared to the others due to low awareness or

ignorance. While the people with environmental or energy conservation awareness are

more aware of their energy consumption behaviour hence minimizing the energy used.

For example, a simple act to switch off the appliances when they are not in used will

help contribute to reduce energy usage.

On the other hand, the use of electrical appliances is another factor that affect the

building energy usage. Centre for Environment, Technology& Development, Malaysia

(CETDEM) has done a study on the energy consumption of urban households in

Kajang and Petaling Jaya in 2006 (Figure2.0). According to the study, almost half of

the energy consumed is used for cooling the households. The reason of such huge

differences between the cooling usage and the other usages is caused by the high

power input of the cooling mechanism, especially for air-conditioning.

As a hot and humid tropical climate country, Malaysia has an annual temperature

ranging from 23°C to 34°C and mean relative humidity ranges from 80-90% throughout

the year (Malaysia Country Study Guide, 2008). The bioclimatic chart (figure2.1) shows

that the comfort zone level in Malaysia is not achieved without the application

mechanical cooling. Hence, cooling mechanism such as fans and air-condition is used

throughout the day to provide a comfortable living or working spaces.

Figure 2.0: Energy consumption of Malaysian urban households in Kajang & Petaling Jaya Sources: (CETDEM, 2007).




Figure 2.1: Bioclimatic chart Sources: (http://www.sbd.ulg.ac.be/academic/BioclimaticDesign/Images/Bioclimatic%20Chart%20Olgyay.jpg).




3.0 Passive Design Features in Warehouse

In order to minimize the energy usage of the Warehouse unit, Sek San has applied

passive cooling and natural lighting as his design strategies. The passive cooling

features used are sun shading, natural ventilation and thermal mass; the natural

lighting methods applied are open layout planning and skylight.

3.1 Passive Cooling

Passive cooling is a design strategy that emphasizes on the heat gain control and heat

dissipation of a building by blocking the heat gain or by removing the heat from the

building. Through passive cooling, the indoor thermal comfort could be improved with

little to no energy consumption.

Sun Shading

Sek San uses large zinc roofing with deep overhang to shade the Warehouse from

direct solar heat gain (Figure3.0). The shading device works effectively when used in

combination with the surrounding vegetation. As the Warehouse is located in the forest,

great shading and cool microclimate is provided naturally from the context.

Figure 3.0: The Warehouse with large overhang roofing and its surrounding vegetation

Sources: Sekeping Serendah




Natural Ventilation

On contrary to many of the buildings which tend to be sealed on their envelope and

have internal walls built, the Warehouse has large opening areas around its envelope

and minimal walls built in the interior (Figure3.1). This open layout concept is made

possible due to the context of the Warehouse being situated in the forest and its

purpose of being a temporary accommodation for visitors. This open layout promotes

cross ventilation across the building. The air movement replaces the stale air indoor

with fresh air, moderating the temperature indoor thus ensuring the thermal comfort of

the occupants.

Thermal Mass

Thermal mass strategy uses the ability of material that are able store and release heat

energy in building design. It requires materials with high specific heat capacity, high

density and thermal conductivity for this strategy to work effectively. The reinforced

concrete and masonry brick used as flooring in the Warehouse has high thermal mass

which helps to absorb the during the day and cool the interior (Figure3.1). The heat is

then released to the air at night when the temperature is cooler. This process helps to

maintain the thermal comfort and reducing the need for heavy mechanical cooling such

as air-conditioning.

Figure 3.1: Interior view of the Warehouse Sources: Sekeping Serendah




3.2 Natural Lighting

The optimization of natural lighting in building is an effective way to decrease a building

energy use. Figure 3.2 shows the tiered approach to reducing energy requirement with

daylighting. It shows that the achieve of adequate daylighting by building design should

be prioritized before proceeding to artificial lighting (Lechner, 2009). As Malaysia

receives 12 hours long of daylight on average, it is highly encouraged for architects and

designers to fully utilized this natural source of light that comes free. This reduces the

energy needed to power the light during the day. In the Warehouse, Sek San has

maximized the natural lighting into the interior through the building planning and the

installation of skylights.

Open Layout Planning

The open plan of the Warehouse has allowed a fair amount of daylight into the building

as there are no walls and partitions blocking the reach of light (Figure3.2). Hence, it

eliminates the needs for artificial lighting during the day.

Figure 3.3: Interior view of the Warehouse

Sources: Sekeping Serendah

Figure 3.2: Tiered approach to reducing energy requirements with daylighting Sources: Lechner, 2009




Skylight

Skylight is an opening on windows, roofs, or ceilings that allows natural light to be

admitted into the building. In Warehouse, plastic fixed unit skylights are installed on the

roof. It is non-operable but it works well in bringing the natural light into the interior

(Figure3.4).

Figure 3.4: Skylight of the Warehouse Sources: Sekeping Serendah




4.0 Minimisation of Energy Consumption In Warehouse

The application of the passive design strategies in the Warehouse has helped in

consuming the energy. With passive cooling, the temperature indoor is cool without the

need for air-conditioning. However, simple mechanism such as the fans are still

needed to achieve the thermal comfort in our hot and humid country. Without the need

for air-conditioning which consumes high amount of electricity, the energy consumption

will be reduced significantly. On the other hand, the use of natural lighting during the

day in Warehouse has also helps in reducing usage of energy as the need for

mechanical lighting during the day is eliminated. There’s no actually statistic available

to showing the exact minimisation percentages of the energy in the Warehouse,

therefore a case study of the Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office Building is

done.

Figure 4.0: Chart of the minimization of the energy consumption in Sekeping Serendah




Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office Building

Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office building is national energy research centre

in Selangor (Figure4.1). It is a prime example of zero energy office building (ZEO) with

zero net energy consumption as the amount of energy used is equivalent to the amount

of the renewable energy produced on site. This is achieved by the application of design

strategies and technology. For examples, double pane windows and high efficiency

fans are installed to reduce the heat gain in the building and cool the building interior.

By using the combination of passive design and energy efficiency technology, the

energy use intensity of the building is reduced to 35-40kWH annually which is around

the 15 per cent of energy consumption of a typical office buildings in Malaysia (Clean

Energy | Action Project, 2015).

Using the Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office as example, it proves that the

energy consumption in the Warehouse could be minimize with the application of

passive design strategies.

Figure 4.1: Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office Building

Sources: http://www.cleanenergyactionproject.com/




5.0 Conclusion

As conclusion, the application of passive cooling (sun shading, natural ventilation and

thermal mass) and natural lighting (open layout and skylights) in the Warehouse is

indeed an effective strategy to minimize the energy consumption. With the reduce of

energy consumption, energy demand will decrease hence lowering the amount of

power supply needed from thermal plant.




6.0 References

Bioclimatic Chart [Online image]. Retrieved June4, 2016 from

http://www.sbd.ulg.ac.be/academic/BioclimaticDesign/Images/Bioclimatic%20Chart%20Olgyay.j

pg

CETDEM (2007). Energy consumption of Malaysian urban households in Kajang & Petaling

Jaya [Online image]. Retrieved June3, 2016 from

http://cetdem.org.my/wordpress/?page_id=2763

Clean Energy | Action Project (2015). Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office Building (PTM

ZEO) | Case Study. Retrieved 26 June 2016, from

http://www.cleanenergyactionproject.com/CleanEnergyActionProject/CS.Pusat_Tenaga_Malays

ia_Zero_Energy_Office_Building___Zero_Net_Energy_Building_Case_Study.html

Lechner, N. (2009). Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Methods for Architects.

Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Malaysia: Country Study Guide (4th ed.). (2008). Washington, D.C.: International Business

Publications.

Malaysia Energy Information Hub,. (2015). Electricity - Electricity Generation. Retrieved 30 May

2015, from

http://meih.st.gov.my/statistics?p_auth=B9WWB5e3&p_p_id=Eng_Statistic_WAR_STOASPubli

cPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=1&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-

1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_Eng_Statistic_WAR_STOASPublicPortlet_execution=e1

s1&_Eng_Statistic_W

http://www.sbd.ulg.ac.be/academic/BioclimaticDesign/Images/Bioclimatic%20Chart%20Olgyay.jpg

http://www.sbd.ulg.ac.be/academic/BioclimaticDesign/Images/Bioclimatic%20Chart%20Olgyay.jpg

http://cetdem.org.my/wordpress/?page_id=2763

http://www.cleanenergyactionproject.com/CleanEnergyActionProject/CS.Pusat_Tenaga_Malaysia_Zero_Energy_Office_Building___Zero_Net_Energy_Building_Case_Study.html

http://www.cleanenergyactionproject.com/CleanEnergyActionProject/CS.Pusat_Tenaga_Malaysia_Zero_Energy_Office_Building___Zero_Net_Energy_Building_Case_Study.html

http://meih.st.gov.my/statistics?p_auth=B9WWB5e3&p_p_id=Eng_Statistic_WAR_STOASPublicPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=1&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_Eng_Statistic_WAR_STOASPublicPortlet_execution=e1s1&_Eng_Statistic_W




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Report passive cooling natural lighting