Window-opening behaviour in hot and humid climates of Southeast Asia

Abstract

This chapter presents the results of a comparative analysis of the windowopening behaviour of residents in Southeast Asian cities. Using face-to-face interviews with a questionnaire, a total of 1,315 samples were obtained from typical households in 3 cities: Surabaya, Indonesia; Bandung, Indonesia; and Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Then, a hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted to analyse the window-opening behaviour in the households. The results showed that overall, daily window-opening behaviour can be classified into four patterns. Pattern A shows opening windows or doors during the morning and evening, Pattern B depicts opening windows or doors during the daytime, Pattern C shows opening windows or doors throughout the day except for sleep time and Pattern D describes opening windows or doors throughout the day. Almost all of the respondents in Surabaya and Johor Bahru were categorised as Patterns B, C or D, indicating that they usually keep windows or doors open during the daytime, but the opening patterns varied during the periods after coming home and during sleeping. In contrast, most of the respondents in Bandung were categorised into Pattern A, showing that they briefly open windows and doors during the morning and evening but close them during the daytime. Furthermore, the daily usage patterns of air conditioners were also analysed in this chapter.