Existing commercial buildings are surveyed and categorized based on the construction characteristics of their envelope. The envelope heat gain and the resulting cooling load demand are analysed with the aid of energy simulation tool DOE-2. l D. The concept of the overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) is applied to study the association of the envelope designs with the cooling requirement, and a modified approach in asessing the effective envelope heat gains under a sub-tropical climate is proposed.
Future information age technology will demand cleaner and more cleanrooms for the manufacture, assembly and repair of electronic components. Many special processes can be very sensitive to trace contaminants which are not removed by conventional air conditioning, filtering and distribution. High efficiency particulate air filters, high velocity streamline air flows, relatively dry air, clean ducts and plenums, cooling, noise reduction and perhaps disinfection are needed.
This paper reports the analysis of the thermal performance of building envelopes of high-rise commercial buildings in the subtropical climate and their interactions with cooling system. Building constructions of commercial buildings in Hong Kong have been investigated and categorized. Their thermal performance and the resulting chiller load is studied with the building energy simulation tool DOE-2. lD. The characteristics of subtropical climate, coupled to high internal gains of commercial buildings, are discussed.
Increasing demands for energy saving and a higher degree of comfort in rooms compels designers or architects to use more sophisticated analysis methods. The measurement in situ, numerical simulation (CFO), and wind tunnel investigations are three of methods which are always utilised to analyse or to assess air flow in rooms and their environment. However, these methods remain generally very difficult for the majority of the designers or the architects.
Although most new houses in the Hokuriku region are equipped with air conditioners, some people living in farmhouses still feel that cross ventilation is more desirable. Comparative measurements were made between a new house and a farmhouse. Simplified simulations were also carried out to clarify the effects of thermal insulation and earth floors on cross ventilation in summer. The role of thermal insulation in hot and humid regions is different from that in cold regions, where there is a large difference between outside and inside air temperatures.
Since the combustion of fossil fuels is the leading causative factor in global climate change, the "Westernmodel'' of adopting energy-using technologies and using ever-greater amounts of energy will have important consequences for the future of human life on the planet if it is transferred on a wholesale basis to the developing world. It is thus important to Uy to understand, in the context of global development.
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