COMFORT ROUTINES AND AIR-CONDITION BEHAVIOUR IN OCCUPANTS OF PUBLIC HOUSING: THE CASE OF SINGAPORE

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand how air-condition consumption of occupants are related to routinised behaviour and environmental design of public housing in Singapore. It aims to evaluate the impacts of passive-design strategies used in public housing on home occupants consumption of air-conditioning, as well as the implication of the socio-cultural contexts on routinised air-condition consumption behaviours.

It is commonly acknowledged that good passive-design naturally cultivates sustainable energy consumption behaviour in occupants. However, I argue that air-condition consumption is hardly so straightforward. Rather, it is complicated by the human factor such as socio-cultural perceptions deeply embedded in their daily routine. In the discourse of sustainable architecture, the human factor has always been neglected and this poses an impediment to the preparation for a more sustainable future in facing the threats of global warming.

The public housing landscape in Singapore has always been designed to facilitate natural ventilation. It is crucial to understand the limits of architecture's role in the constructs of occupant's air-condition consumption, and at the same time, anticipate consumption behaviours and their daily routines to better design for housing in the future.