| Author | Hua, Xun |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.ET-95-22 |
| Subject(s) | Heat--Transmission
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of
Engineering |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Energy used in modern commercial buildings are significant. Large amount of energy is
being wasted due to lack of energy efficient envelopes. The most significant cause of energy
consumption in air-conditioned building in sub-tropical climate is heat transfer through the
building envelope for both summer and winter season. Obviously, the better a building is
insulated, the smaller will be the heat gains and/or losses through the structural elements.
Six types of wall, three types of roof and four types of window structures were studied
and evaluated, with respect of their thermal performance and their impact on space cooling and/or
heating load. A predefined computer program, using the finite difference method, was utilized as
a main research tool for investigation. Various alternative solutions to achieve thermal comfort in
a building are investigated. Data collected from an office building in Shanghai, P.R.China was
served as a base case. Results are given in graphical or tabular forms.
The study showed the role of thermal insulation in improving the thermal performance of
the building. The results demonstrated significant difference with respect to thermal performance
when utilizing different thermal insulation materials of buildings to newly designed and/or
retrofitted buildings. There is a remarkable savings in energy needed to cool and/or heat the
space. It is not surprising that insulated buildings utilizing varying thermal insulation materials
save considerable energy and perform better than the original base case. The results of the
analysis show that the best model within the recommended ones in WALL-4, ROOF-3 and
WINDOW-3. The Optimum Window-to-Wall Ratio (WWR) should be 0.15 for East/West facade
and 0.22 for South/North facade. It is obvious that energy saving could be achieved if using good
insulation materials and proper window to wall ratio. The shading devices should be used
whenever it is possible. |
| Year | 1995 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Energy Technology (ET) |
| Chairperson(s) | Surapong Chirarattananon; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Bhattacharya, Sribas C.;Karmazsin, Etienne; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | European Union; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1995 |