Thermal comfort and energy performance of public rental housing under typical and near-extreme weather conditions in Hong Kong

Kwok, Yu Ting; Lai, Alan Kwok Lung; Lau, Kevin Ka-Lun; Chan, Pak Wai; Lavafpour, Yahya; Ho, Justin Ching Kwan; Ng, Edward Yan Yung

Abstract

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Building performance evaluation is crucial for sustainable urban developments. In high-density cities, occupants suffer from poor living conditions due to building overheating, especially during increasingly frequent near-extreme summer conditions caused by climate change. To represent this situation, the summer reference year weather data was employed for building simulations using DesignBuilder. This study aims to evaluate the thermal comfort and energy consumption of four typical public rental housing (PRH) building types in Hong Kong. For free-running flats, results show generally higher air temperatures in the oldest PRH type (Slab) with a compact linear building form and the most sensitive response to outdoor temperature changes for another older PRH type (Trident) with a Y-shaped design, possibly owing to its high wall conductivity. Occupants in all building types experience a ???10% increase in the proportion of discomfort hours when compared to results for typical summer conditions, but overheating is the most severe in Slab type PRH. Following an initial assessment of the cooling energy usage, a simple sensitivity test was conducted to explore the potential energy savings by various passive design strategies, including shading and reducing the exposed cooled space. A cross-shaped building form also appears to be more energy efficient. These findings, complemented by further parametric analyses, may prove useful when designing buildings for climate change.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 24, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Nov 29, 2017
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jan 11, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 29, 2018
• Journal: Energy and Buildings
• Print ISSN: 0378-7788
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 156
• Pages: 390-403
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.09.067
• Keywords: indoor thermal comfort, cooling energy consumption, building simulation, Summer Reference Year (SRY), high-density city
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/902400
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.09.067
• Contract Date: Jan 11, 2018