FACADE PERFORMANCE ON THE IMPACT OF COOLING LOAD IN MULTISTORIED COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

Abstract

As soon as a simple square hut is built, at least six new microclimates are created, the south, the north, the east, the west and the roof zones in the exterior and also the inside zone which is sheltered and comforted from the rain, wind and sun. Much research have been attempted to link the roof properties with the energy consumption in the buildings. In Singapore most of people live and work in multistoried buildings, where the roof consists of a small portion of the above-ground building shell. Hence the effect of the roof performance could be very minimal when comparing the total energy consumption of the building. This study attempts to investigate the thermal performance of facade materials (especially regarding the optical properties of the material) that influences the cooling load in the buildings. This is done by using computational building performance simulation (TAS simulation software prepared by Environmental Design Solutions Limited) to control the effect of various parameters that affect the cooling load. Findings show that, for multistoried buildings the color of the facade plays an important role in influencing the cooling load inside the building. The influences of facade materials color for different orientations and for different floor levels are analyzed. These observed behaviors of the facade materials color provides significant information for making reasonable design decisions.