ASPECT RATIO OF BUILDING FORM AS A TOOL FOR ENHANCING THERMAL COMFORT IN THE DESIGN OF A TELECOMMUNICATIONS OFFICE BUILDING (MAIDUGURI)
ASPECT RATIO OF BUILDING FORM AS A TOOL FOR ENHANCING THERMAL COMFORT IN THE DESIGN OF A TELECOMMUNICATIONS OFFICE BUILDING (MAIDUGURI)
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Date
2017-12
Authors
TAJUDDEEN, Ibrahim
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Abstract
Thermal comfort is recognized as a key parameter for healthy and productive large
workspaces found in office buildings. Achieving occupants comfort is a priority that has
a great effect on energy demand in buildings, particularly in hot climate zones. The
study aims at investigating a suitable aspect ratio of building form that will reduce the
costly effects of providing thermal comfort to occupants in buildings in a hot-dry climate
of Nigeria.
A case study approach was adopted to study the geometric properties of existing
similar office buildings which were chosen purposively and a quantitative research
method was used for the collection of data through computer simulation. Firstly, the
study examined the thermal performance of different building forms with the same floor
area against their volume to surface ratio (V/S). Forms with good thermal performance
were optimized with different aspect ratios elongated along east-west orientation.
ECOTECT program was used to study the energy performance of the forms on exposed
surfaces.
From the deduction of the study, the west and south surfaces are the most exposed (in
terms of heat gain and incident light), both the cube and cylinder forms were optimized
with various aspect ratios and simulations were conducted to observe the extent to which
solar radiation could be reduced on exposed west surfaces during hot periods and
maximized on south surfaces during cold periods.
The study showed that a slight change in the volume to surface ratio could have a
significant impact in a building’s energy performance, and also significant thermal
environment can be attained during both hot and cold periods when optimized with an
optimum aspect ratio of (1:1.7) as compared to aspect ratio (1:1). 33% and 28% energy
are further saved on south and west surfaces respectively when aspect ratio “1:1.7” (ideal
ratio) is compared with aspect ratio “1:1”. Also, it was noted that the incident solar
radiation decreases from aspect ratio 1:1.7 indicating 71% exposure, 1:1 and 1:2 indicating
72% exposure, 1:2.5 indicating 73% exposure, 1: 4 indicating 77% exposure and 1:3
indicating 78% exposure. Therefore, it could be said that an ideal aspect ratio of 1:1.7
existed for the wide range of ratios from 1:1-1:4. In conclusion, the thermal comfort of
the proposed building could be optimized by applying the aspect ratio “1:1.17”
of cylindrical/cuboidal form to reduce the effect of west and south solar radiation. It is
recommended that prospective designers should go beyond only orienting buildings on
east-west axis, rather, effort to experimentally explore different aspect ratios should be
considered for befitting alternative.
Description
A THESES SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTERS DEGREE IN ARCHITECTURE
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY,
ZARIA, NIGERIA
Keywords
ASPECT RATIO,, BUILDING ,, TOOL,, ENHANCING THERMAL COMFORT,, DESIGN,, TELECOMMUNICATIONS,