Sensitivity Analysis of Designs of Row House Planning Influencing on Local Microclimate and Building's Cooling Energy Consumption in A Tropical City

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of design characteristics of row house projects on outdoor thermal conditions and the building's cooling energy consumption. The studied parameters comprise the design combinations of four street canyon orientations, building-two block shapes, four street canyon's aspect ratios (H/W), and two window to wall ratios (WWR). The study firstly performs the simulations of air temperature and mean radiant temperature across the street canyons via using ENVI-met modeling. The simulated air temperature is used as input in energy modeling to calculate cooling energy consumption in a residential unit. The Standardized Regression Coefficient (SRC) obtained from the multiple regression analysis is used to determine the significant design parameters influencing on outdoor air temperature, mean radiant temperatures, and building's cooling energy consumption. It is found that the increase of H/W has a positive effect on both outdoor conditions and building energy consumption. At the same time, the impact of street canyon's orientation and building-block shape on those issues shows an invert direction. Future studies should investigate how to optimize the design for achieving better outdoor thermal conditions and building energy efficiency.