Bioclimatic Malaysian Bioclimatic Case studies Conclusion

Housing climate & TC solution sets

Achieving Thermal Comfort in

Malaysian Building:
Bioclimatic Housing

Dr Sabarinah Sh.Ahmad
Dr Nor Zaini Ikrom Zakaria
Mohammad Shayouty Mustafa
Mohd Ghadaffi Shirat

Universiti Teknologi MARA

sabrin63@yahoo.com
 Bioclimatic
Housing

Components of bioclimatic design

Current themes centre on a range of issues such as:
• climate types and requirements;
• adaptive thermal comfort;
• vernacular and contextual solutions;
• tools and assessment methods;
• microclimate: sun path, wind and rain;
• working with the elements, such as passive and active
systems;
• development of a responsive form (Price & Myers, 2005).
This can be conceptualized as building design that utilizes a
range of biophysical elements that are drawn from the
ecosphere - heat, light, landscape, air, rain and materials

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 Bioclimatic
Housing

New parameters
for bioclimatic
housing
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 Bioclimatic
Housing
LOCATION, CLIMATE AND SOLUTIONS
studies of housing design from a range of locations in warm climates.

Cold – v high t m Hot arid – high t m,

insulated, controlld ground coupling,
ventilation light colour and
shaded

Temperate – moderate
equator-facing windows
to collect winter sun, Warm humid –lightweight, elevated
shading of summer sun and well ventilated
and thermal mass, well
ventilated in summer

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 Bioclimatic
Housing

Climate change and the need for bioclimatic design

Roaf (2003) has identified 4 main reasons for bioclimatic
design:
 The rate of change in the level of climate variability and
modification is increasing, requiring human adaptation to a
rapidly warming world.
 The fundamental means to this adaptation in the b env is the
adoption of more effective, and widely used, methods for
passively cooling buildings.
 AC systems are increasingly seen as a part of the climate
change problem, as well as its solution. Not only is the rising
cost of energy a problem, but the energy used to run these
systems is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
 It is imperative to create a new ‘cool vernacular’ building
approach, which matches human and environmental needs.

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 Malaysian
climate & TC

The climate
The weather in Kuala Lumpur is hot and humid all year, with ave.
temps of 23–33ºC and average rainfall of 190mm.
 Showers occur almost daily, and downpours during the rainy
season are not much worse than the rest of the year.
 Kuala Lumpur is affected by the south-west monsoon from April
to September.
 The psychrometric chart of Kuala Lumpur shows that all
temperatures fell outside the recommended (ASHRAE) Standard
55 summer comfort zone. The cooling period is throughout the
year.
 The wind direction is mainly from the north-west to the south-
west throughout the year, as shown in the wind roses.

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 Malaysian
climate & TC

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 Malaysian
climate & TC

Kuala Lumpur wind rose.

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

Typological solution set for cost-effective design

in hot humid climates
 Hot humid regions are distinguished by 2 features.
1. the climate is uncomfortable and is the most difficult to
ameliorate by passive design.
2. many of the countries in the hot humid regions are
developing countries.
 The latter fact has a direct impact upon the practicality
of some modern concepts of urban and building design
from a climatic viewpoint.
 The vast majority of people in this region can’t afford
AC.
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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

 Therefore, thermal stress should be minimized primarily

by environmentally friendly and low-technology design
solutions (Chen, 1998).
 Diurnal temp. variation is low, often less than 8ºC,
especially in the ‘wet’ season.
 Humidity is high, so skin evaporation is limited and
evaporative cooling is not effective.
 Design aims are to reduce internal temperatures,
maximize ventilation rates to increase the effectiveness
of sweat evaporation, and provide protection from sun,
rain and insects.

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

Appropriate strategies are as follows:

 Keep out direct sunshine and heat by:
 using large overhangs to protect internal spaces
from solar radiation;
 ensuring that east and west elevations have few
or no windows
 admitting low sun, and that walls on these
elevations are reflective and well insulated;
 using low thermal mass materials to minimize
heat storage; and
 using shading devices to minimize solar gain.

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

Urban housing in a hot climate is dominated by the vernacular urban

form comprising in shop house. Lessons learned from the shop house
can be applied in new forms of bioclimatic housing.
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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

a) Shop house interior looking towards

the street;
b) interior looking towards the air well;
c) shop houses uses lightweight
materials for the internal floors and
walls

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

Maximize natural ventilation by ensuring that:

■ north and south walls have large openings for ventilation;
■ double-banking of rooms is avoided, if possible;
■ rooms are arranged to aid cross-ventilation;
■ plans are open and free spaces between buildings are
wide;
■ large volumetric ventilation is provided to remove internal
heat;
■ spacing of buildings optimizes access to breezes; and
■ in free-standing houses, elevated construction is used,
where possible, to improve wind exposure.

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

 Use orientation to best effect:

 best and breeze orientation should always be resolved to
control sun, with the design of both building and
landscaping modified to deflect available winds.
 Roofs should be pitched to facilitate water drainage.
 Mean radiant temperature should be kept as low as possible
by using reflective roof, ventilated air space and reflective foil
above ceilings, as well as insulating ceilings.
 For row houses, courtyards and air wells on the ground floor,
encourage cross-ventilation and daylight into the internal
spaces.
 Best orientation is for long façades to face north and south;
 orientation of buildings should respond to available cooling
winds, as well as to sun;
 conflict between sun

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

Solution set for apartment units:

(a) section; b) plan

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

Detached house
 Form: compact for air conditioning to minimize surface area of
envelope; spread-out building for natural ventilation
 Floors: two to three maximum
 Dimensional ratio (length/width): 1– 3 maximum
 Orientation (0° = south): 0° and 180°
 Roofing: pitched, ventilated attic, reflective foil under roof, separate and
insulated ceiling
 Solar protection: façade-shadowing systems
 Active systems: photovoltaic (PV) collectors on roof
 Passive systems: cross-ventilation, shading, orientation
 Glazed/opaque surfaces ratio: south and north 30%
 Thermal time lag: >8 hours
 Ambient air exchange: 10 in summer (V x hour)
 Maximum yearly heating energy consumption: 0kWh/m²
 Reference U value: 0.3–0.6W/m²K
 Living-room orientation: south and north

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

Row house
 Form: row of terraced houses
 Floors: one to three maximum
 Dimensional ratio (length/width): 0.3–1 maximum (single house cluster)
 Orientation (0° = south): 0° and 180°
 Roofing: pitched, ventilated attic, reflective foil under roof, separate and
insulated ceiling
 Solar protection: façade-shadowing systems
 Active systems: PV collectors on roof
 Passive systems: internal courtyards
 Glazed/opaque surfaces ratio: south and north 30%
 Thermal time lag: >8 hours
 Ambient air exchange: 10 in summer (V x hour)
 Maximum yearly heating energy consumption: 0kWh/m²
 Reference U value: 0.3–0.6W/m²K
 Living-room orientation: south and north

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 Bioclimatic
solution sets

Multi-family apartment housing

 Form: block
 Floors: four to five maximum
 Dimensional ratio (length/width): 1.6–2.5
 Orientation (0° = south): 0° and 180°
 Roofing: pitched, ventilated attic, reflective foil under roof, separate and
insulated ceiling
 Solar protection: façade-shadowing systems
 Active systems: PV collectors on roofs
 Passive systems: ‘double-skin’ bioclimatic system
 Glazed/opaque surfaces ratio: south and north 30%
 Thermal time lag: >8 hours
 Ambient air exchange: 10 in summer (V x hour)
 Maximum yearly heating energy consumption: 0kWh/m²
 Reference U value: 0.3–0.6W/m²K
 Living-room orientation: south and north

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 Case Studies

Introduction
Thermal performance of buildings
3. Climate: site location
4. Architectural design: form & layout
5. Thermal design: material & construction
6. Indoor activities: occupant & schedule

Objectives
9. compile data on building thermal design
10. analyse the indoor-outdoor temperature profile
11. analyse the indoor-outdoor temperature
differential profile
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 Case Studies

Methodology
Dwelling type & location:
 Dwelling 1: suburban non-conventional
double-storey detached at Kesuma
Lakes
 built-up area 167 m2
 3 bedrooms
 3 bathrooms
 1 living & dining area
 1 kitchen
 unfurnished
 5 people

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 Case Studies

 Dwelling 2: urban
conventional double-storey
linked house in Shah Alam

 built-up area 130 m2

 3 bedrooms
 3 bathrooms
 1 living & dining area
 1 kitchen
 semi-furnished
 8 people

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 Case Studies

Thermal design
Dwelling1 Dwelling2
Roof •20mm red concrete tiles pitch 35° •20mm brown concrete tiles pitch 25°
•50mm-75mm ventilated air spaces •50mm unventilated air spaces
•Aluminum radiant barriers •Aluminum radiant barriers
•100mm rockwool insulation
Ceiling •10mm gypsum plaster ceiling - sloping •4.5mm asbestos free sheets - horizontal
Window •10 mm clear glass •10 mm clear glass
Door •10 mm clear glass •10 mm clear glass
Wall •6mm cement plaster •20mm cement plaster
•125mm aerated concrete •115mm brick
•3mm cement plaster •20mm cement plaster
Foundation/ •Soil •Soil
Floor •2-3 layers used car tyres •75mm aggragates
•Steel mesh •125mm concrete
•100mm concrete •50mm concrete screed
•50mm concrete screed •10mm ceramic tiles
•10mm timber strip flooring

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 Case Studies

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 Case Studies

Data collection
Spaces
 Dwelling 1: west rooms – upstairs &
downstairs
 Windows
- opened nightime
&
closed daytime

 Dwelling 2: south rooms- upstairs &

downstairs
 windows
- opened daytime
&
closed nightime
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 Case Studies

Data collection
External environment
 Thermo anemometer-EXTECH 451104
 Air temperature
 Wind speed
 Manually at 15-min interval

Internal environment
 BABUC A/M data logger
 Temp. - air, wet, radiant
 RH
 Air velocity
 Illumination
 Automatically at 15-min interval

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 Case Studies

LOGGING EQUIPMENT

BSV 101 (Air speed/velocity

BSU 121 (Wet bulb temperature
Babuc A/M Babuc Data logger measurement)
measurement)

BSU 102 (Dry bulb EXTECH 451104 Themo

temperature and relative Anemometer (external
humidity measurement) BSR 001 (illuminance BST 131 (Average radiant temperature and wind
indoor measurement) temperature) speed)
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 Case Studies

Results & discussion

Thermal design
 U-value (low)
U = 1 / Rt (Unit: W m-2 K-1 )

Rt = Ro + R1 + R2 +…..+ Rn + Ri ;
Ro= air film resistance of external surface (m2 K W -1 )
Ri = air film resistance of internal surfaces (m2 K W -1 )
R1, R2 … Rn = thermal resistance of the respective material

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 Case Studies

Thermal design
Dwelling 1: Dwelling 2
U-value U-value
Roof 0.240 0.822
Ceiling 3.096 3.224
Window & 5.764 5.764
Door
Wall 1.091 2.621
Foundation/ 1.951 2.867
floor

 Dwelling 1 performs better than Dwelling 2

 Higher R-value & lower U-value
 Higher resistance to external heat gain – less thermal impact
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 Case Studies

Indoor-outdoor Dwelling
temperature profile: Dwelling 1
1: Indoor-outdoor temperature vs time

37.0

Tout-max:35.9
36.0

35.0

34.0

33.0

32.0
Tout
Temp(C)

31.0 Tin-down
Tup-max:30.3 Tin-up
30.0

Tdown-max:28.9
29.0

28.0

27.0 Tdown-min:26.5
Tup-min:26.8
26.0
Tout-min:25.6
25.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Time (hr)

Tmax: Outdoor 35.9 °C Indoor upstairs 30.3 °C Indoor downstairs 28.9 °C

Tmin: Outdoor 25.6 °C Indoor upstairs 26.8 °C Indoor downstairs 26.5 °C
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 Case Studies

Indoor-outdoor Dwelling
temperature profile: Dwelling 2
2: Indoor-outdoor temperature vs time

32.0

Tup=max:31.4

Tout-max:31.3
31.0

Tdown-max:30.5

30.0
Tout
Temp (C)

Tup-min:29.5
Tin-down
Tin-up

29.0

Tdown-min:28.7

28.0
Tout-min:28.0

27.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Time (hr)

Tmax: Outdoor 31.3 °C Indoor upstairs 31.4 °c Indoor downstairs 30.5 °C

Tmin: Outdoor 28.0 °C Indoor upstairs 29.5 °C Indoor downstairs 28.7 °C
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 Case Studies

Indoor-outdoor temperature profile

Dwelling Outside Inside 1st Inside Max Diff.
Floor Ground between Tout
Floor and Tin
1 Tmax (°C) 35.9 30.3 28.9 7

Tmin (°C) 25.6 26.8 26.5 -0.9

2 Tmax (°C) 31.3 31.4 30.5 0.8

Tmin (°C) 28.0 29.5 28.7 -0.7

Summary
Dwelling 1 : Higher Tout but lower Tin

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 Case Studies

Indoor-outdoor temperature differential profile

Indoor-outdoor temperature differential

3.0
D2∆ T down:1.3
D1∆ T down:1.5 D1∆ T up:2.3
 DT = Tin -Tout 2.0
D2∆ T up:1.9

 Negative: indoor cooler

1.0 0.5
than outdoor D2 ∆ T up:0.1
0.0 0.0 0.0
 Positive: indoor hotter 0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
than outdoor -1.0 -0.7
Temperature difference D2∆ T down: 0.8
D1: Tdiff (down-out)
-2.0 D1: Tdiff ( up-out)
D2: Tdiff (down-out)
-3.0 D2: Tdiff ( up-out)

-4.0

-5.0
D1∆ T up:5.5

-6.0

D1∆ T down:7.0
-7.0

-8.0
Time (hour)
DTmax
 Dwelling 1: downstairs –7 °C daytime, +1.5 °C nightime
upstairs –5.5 °C daytime, +2.3 °C nightime
 Dwelling 2: downstairs –0.8 °C daytime, +1.3 °C nightime
upstairs always higher +0.1 °C daytime to +1.9 °C nightime
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 Case Studies

Conclusion
Results are indicative only
Dwelling 1 performs better than Dwelling 2
Thermal design
Low U-value
Indoor-outdoor temperature differential profile
DT = Tin -Tout
 Tin lower up to 7 °C than Tout during daytime

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 Case Studies

Dwelling 1 performs better than dwelling 2

Daytime thermal condition is significantly better
Nightime thermal condition not significantly better
even with opened window
Consistent with previous studies for thermal impact
due to aerated concrete and roof insulation
Need more empirical studies on the thermal impact
due to tyre-air space foundation
Other environmental data have to be analysed for
interactive impact between climate, building and man
 More real-time studies and analysis on all
interactive parameters need to be performed
7 Aug 2007 CIDB Seminar/Dr Sabarinah 38
 Earlier Case
Studies

Test carried out by UTM Building Science Lab on

3 houses in Kg Chuah (Wooden, Smart & Cool
HOMES and RC brick mortar) showed that
temperature in Smart & Cool HOMES is as low as
an air-conditioned RC brick mortar house (Lee,
2004)

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 AIR TEMPERATURE - KAMPONG CHUAH
( 30 MAC 2004 )
Tested by Building Science Lab, UTM, Skudai

38

36

34

32
DEGREE CELCIUS (o C )

30

28

26

24

22

20

18

16

13:00

19:00
0:00

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

5:00

6:00

8:00

9:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

20:00

21:00

22:00

23:00
7:00

TIME

TIMBER BRICK (Air-Con) Smart & Cool HOMES OUTDOOR

Copyright
7 Aug 2007 1999-2004 Soon Hoe Technologies Sdn Bhd (29593-P)
CIDB Seminar/Dr Sabarinah 40
 Conclusion

Conclusion:
 Bioclimatic housing should be encourage as a passive
means to achieve comfort.
 The nature of Malaysian climate necessitate mech. ventilated
or partial AC interiors (on hot days)
 However, poor design and indiscriminate use of AC have
resulted in huge increases in energy use. So passive and low
energy design strategies are better solutions for a
sustainable future.

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 Conclusion

 The comfort band for the KL area for all building types
is between 23.6 and 28.6oC with a Tn of 26.1oC.
 As Malaysians, being acclimatised to hot and humid
climates, are able to tolerate much higher
temperatures, increasing the upper limit of the comfort
range would result in greater energy savings.
 These climatic consequences make passive design a
challenging but achievable option for achieving
commercial and residential building comfort standards.

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 Conclusion

 Thus energy efficient design should be directed towards

reducing energy demands, through:
 natural and fan assisted ventilation,
 correct opening schedules,
 higher set-point temperatures (if air-conditioning is being used),
 proper orientation and siting,
 reduction of solar gain (i.e., shading devices),
 thermally efficient construction (i.e., insulation and use of
material with low U- value) as in the case study
 low energy equipment and plant and
 improved use of daylight.
 Finally, trees that surround a house could also
contribute to natural cooling of the house.

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 THANK YOU

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