INDOOR AIR QUALITY, THERMAL COMFORT AND ENERGY PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT IN A LARGE EXHIBITION HALL

Abstract

Given the increasing emphasis on the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) sector in recent years, world-class exhibition centres have sprung up in major cities around the globe. To increase visitorship for MICE events, countries have been striving to build exemplary exhibition venues to cater to event attendees due to increased competition. Hence, it is imperative for exhibition centres to ensure that ambient conditions such as indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort are appropriate and pleasant for the exhibition goers. When attendees are more satisfied with the indoor environment, they are more likely to return due to increased place satisfaction. Other than exhibition goers, exhibition workers have long exposure periods in the exhibition halls and are a key reason for IAQ investigation as well. Other than the importance of ambient conditions, energy consumption of exhibition centres are of key interest due to their large footprint, and building owners require minimizing energy consumption while maximizing IAQ and thermal comfort for building occupants. This study aims to investigate the indoor environment in an exhibition hall in the tropics and strives to determine the appropriate types of air distribution systems that may be utilised to maximise IAQ and thermal comfort. To allow for a comprehensive and holistic indoor environmental assessment, objective and subjective approaches were carried out in an exhibition hall of Singapore Expo. Objective measurements carried out revealed high levels of carbon dioxide during the peak period, and thermal comfort parameters falling out of the recommended ranges for both non-peak and peak periods. Nevertheless, subjective measurements indicated that occupants were mostly satisfied with the indoor environment. Energy consumption was also benchmarked against the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Building Energy Benchmarking Report (BEBR) and it was discovered that energy consumption in Singapore Expo fell within the top quartile of buildings in its category, though more could be done to push it into the top ten percentile.