A STUDY OF INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF GREEN OFFICE BUILDING

Abstract

The growing concern for global warming and climate change has increased the need for sustainable development. As the building industry becomes the dominant energy consumers in today’s cities, a response to these challenges was the creation of green buildings. However, there appears to be an underlying issue with green buildings concerning the adverse effects of energy conservation on occupant comfort. It is thus critical to look into practical measures to optimize energy efficiency while ensuring that the indoor environmental quality supports occupants’ comfort and well-being. In light of this, a large array of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors were deployed in a green office building in National University of Singapore (NUS) to better analyze building performance and monitor indoor climate. Indoor parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, noise level, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and carbon dioxide (CO2) were monitored. Occupancy levels were recorded daily by physical observation to identify similar trends. Additionally, data were analyzed to explore relationships between occupancy and the magnitude of CO2 and noise changes. The results showed that the IEQ of the green office is within the recommended limits except for temperature where there is great potential to reduce energy consumption without compromising occupant comfort. However, more in- depth studies are necessary to ascertain the actual amount of energy saving that can potentially be obtained. Further research is also necessary to study the exact relations between the number of occupants, CO2 and noise even as the results indicate that a relationship exists between these variables.