A Study on Reduction of Cooling Energy in Glazed Buildings

Large scale air conditioning applications are one of the major energy consumers in hot and humid countries like Malaysia. For building complexes such as those in a university, the cooling energy varies depending on the varying activities of students and staff. Some of these buildings are intentionally designed and built by architects for aesthetic values and those with building envelope that comprises large areas of glazing consequently face high energy cost of air-conditioning due to the high heat gain through solar radiation. Due to the present uncertainties in the cost and availability of local and global energy, along with the environmental problem related to global warming, studies on how to reduce cooling energy in highly glazed buildings are imperative. The objective of the present work is to study a few possible strategies to reduce energy consumption through the air conditioning systems in a highly glazed academic building. The strategies considered in the study are through forced reduction of air-conditioning load during lunch-time and during rain, and also by switching off some of the lights during office hours. The study is conducted by computer simulation using EnergyPlus software, which estimates the cooling energy of a building or areas. It is found in the study that the strategies for reduction of cooling energy have potentials and are practical for implementation in the buildings.