NATURAL VENTILATION STUDIES OF COMMERCIAL BUILDING PROTOTYPES IN THE TROPICAL CONTEXT OF SINGAPORE : EFFECT OF BUILDING FORM IN RELATION TO NATURAL VENTILATION OF COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

Abstract

Despite concerns for a sustainable future, we still witness the trend of developing more and more Northern boxes in our tropical context of Singapore today. While recognizing the fact that the aesthetics of these commercial typologies is here to stay, the paper sought to seek an approach to encourage designers to design ‘better’ commercial buildings that responses to our local climate. Upon critical analysis of sustainable approaches to design, it is identified that the initial stage of passive design plays a crucial role in creating a low-energy building. As such, the paper takes on the investigation of natural ventilation as part of a cooling strategy for commercial buildings, which is a fundamental approach to design in the tropics. Hence, this lead to the identification of the relationship between built form to enhance wind flow within the enclosure of a building. The investigation thus takes on a critical analysis how different built forms can affect wind flow, thereby in allowing a reduction on energy impacts of the building by reducing means of cooling using air-conditioning. The study shall involve the use of computational analysis where simulation programs are used to analyze the built form as though in a ‘real-life’ environmental setting. The study thus culminates with the explorations through the use of computer simulation tools. Built forms in relation to building orientation and climatic factors are explored with the aim to obtain optimum results in terms of the air movement. Finally, the study pursues to identify what are the qualities of built form configuration that will give rise to better ventilation within atrium spaces.