INFLUENCING FACTORS on COOLING DEMAND of HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS in HOT/HUMID CLIMATES: A REVIEW

Abstract

A significant amount of energy is consumed on cooling buildings in countries that experience hot/humid climates. The increasing demand for high-rise buildings, with their inherent air conditioning systems, adds extra requirements to electricity grids or local district cooling systems. Thus, this work is structured to identify the influencing factors of cooling energy demand in high-rise buildings that are geographically restricted to countries of these climates. The influence of the factor is quantified as its contribution to cooling energy savings when manipulated or optimized. It is found that the average annual cooling reductions are 12%, 24.7%, 18.3%, and 20% with ranges of 3%-27%, 2.6%-60%, 5.6%-30%, and 11%-29% for building typology, envelope, system, and operation factors, respectively. Environmental factors lack quantification in the literature, although they are considered, however their effect is not quantified. In general, most studies considered building typology and building envelope factors which are related to building design, while few studies considered building operation and building system factors. The aforementioned factors and their importance lead to suggestions of conducting more studies on building operational and building system factors as they significantly contribute in cooling energy savings. Since Urban Heat Island (UHI) can cause a change of a city's microclimate which may double the cooling demand, it is listed as one of the essential environmental factors. This review has shown various aspects that are vital in studying building cooling load demand and its related energy performance.