[Back]

S. Eikemeier, M. Schuss, U. Pont, A. Mahdavi, R. Wimmer:
"Monitoring of a Prototype Building in Tropical Climate";
Applied Mechanics and Materials, 861 (2017), 392 - 399.

The provision of comfortable indoor conditions is widely considered as one of the key
tasks of architecture. Hereby, different climatic regions require different concepts for the operation
of buildings. Achieving thermal comfort in buildings in hot and humid regions without Air-
Conditioning can be considered as a challenging task. In this context we present a monitoring study
of the indoor conditions in a new prototype building, called the Zero Carbon Resort Demonstration
Cottage. This building was designed according to passive cooling principles with the intent to reach
a high degree of sustainability and to have little environmental impact. To explore the viability of
this concept, we deployed a comprehensive monitoring of the outdoor conditions via a weather
station and of the indoor conditions via air temperature and relative humidity sensors. Moreover,
short-term monitoring of thermal comfort was conducted. In a first analysis step we compared the
results of the indoor monitoring with the corresponding outdoor measurements. In a second step we
conducted a standardized thermal comfort study. Thereby we considered the special circumstances
of the thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings. Results suggest that acceptable indoor
conditions can be maintained, if passive cooling methods are applied properly.

(no english version) The provision of comfortable indoor conditions is widely considered as one of the key
tasks of architecture. Hereby, different climatic regions require different concepts for the operation
of buildings. Achieving thermal comfort in buildings in hot and humid regions without Air-
Conditioning can be considered as a challenging task. In this context we present a monitoring study
of the indoor conditions in a new prototype building, called the Zero Carbon Resort Demonstration
Cottage. This building was designed according to passive cooling principles with the intent to reach
a high degree of sustainability and to have little environmental impact. To explore the viability of
this concept, we deployed a comprehensive monitoring of the outdoor conditions via a weather
station and of the indoor conditions via air temperature and relative humidity sensors. Moreover,
short-term monitoring of thermal comfort was conducted. In a first analysis step we compared the
results of the indoor monitoring with the corresponding outdoor measurements. In a second step we
conducted a standardized thermal comfort study. Thereby we considered the special circumstances
of the thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings. Results suggest that acceptable indoor
conditions can be maintained, if passive cooling methods are applied properly.

Thermal Comfort, Hot-and-Humid Climate, Long-Term Monitoring, Indoor Climatic Assessment, Sustainable Building

http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.861.392