Building Science 1

BUILDING SCIENCE 1

BLD 60803

PROJECT ONE: CASE STUDY-ANALSING PASSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES

For this project, we are required to choose a building that best features two passive design strategy for tropical climate and identify the passive design strategies used for a building. For our group of six, we had chosen KLIA 2 as it is Green Building Index (GBI) rated building. We focused on the two passive design strategies that had been used in KLIA2 which are shading devices and ventilation. We had a thorough research on the passive design strategies, the principles and details needed for these passive design strategies to perform best in tropical climate and to achieve thermal comfort in this KLIA2. We had highlighted the two passive design features (shading devices and ventilation) used in KLIA2 and elaborate the effect and importance of it in our boards.

The objectives of this project are to identify and define the principles of heat transfer in relation to building and people, and understand what thermal comfort is and discuss factors relating to thermal comfort. Besides, we need to analyze the effect of thermal comfort factors in a person and in a space. We need to be able to criticize design of the space in terms of thermal comfort by referring to MS 1525 standard, UBBL, GBI and Green Mark standards.

Through this project, I had learnt to identify the environmental conditions related to site conditions, climate, etc. Besides, I was able to explain the effects of sun on the thermal performances of building. Next, I can explain the effect of insulation, thermal mass and air movement on thermal performance of buildings.

REFLECTION:

Through this module, firstly I had learnt that passive design strategies and the design of building itself can help increase thermal comfort in a building and also reduce the usage of active design. In our tropical climate, shading devices and good ventilation are commonly found in most of the building. For example our KLIA2 airport, shading devices are useful to protect the interior spaces from direct sunlight; while the natural ventilation help to improve indoor air quality. Besides, I was able to use the knowledge that I gain related to passive design strategies in other subjects, and apply it into my design. Next, this is the first time we use software to identify and analyze the efficiency of shading devices used and ventilation in KLIA2. The software that we had used are Revit, Rhinoceros and Vasari etc. It was quite hard at first because we did not have basic knowledge on the software, so we had to explore ourselves. Even though software is hard to use, but after we get familiar with it, it actually helped us a lot. With the help of digital, we can analyze the passive design strategies more efficiently and precisely. For example, we had used Rivet to cut the section of KLIA2 after we build up the 3D model from the plan. Thanks to our lecturers and our seniors that helped us throughout this semester.