TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0) SUMMARY 2.0) INTRODUCTION 3.0) METHODOLOGY 3.1) Data Logger 3.2) Architectural Drawings 3.3) Position of Data Logger and Room Details 2 3 4

4.0) RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 4.1) Tables and Graphs 4.2) Thermal Analysis 4.3) Wind Analysis 4.4) Solar Analysis

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5.0) DISCUSSION 6.0) CONCLUSION 7.0) REFERENCE

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SUMMARY

AIM
The several aims of this project are to identify and explain the principles of heat transfer and its connection to the building and people, understand the meaning of thermal comfort and discuss the factors relating to it, analyze the effects of thermal comfort factors in a person and space and finally, to be able to criticize the design of the space in terms of thermal comfort.

GENERAL PROCEDURE
This assignment is carried out by monitoring the temperature of a room at Jalan SS15/2D, Subang Jaya for 3 full days using a data logger. Then, an analysis on the data is performed based on the document titled MS1525.

OVERALL FINDINGS
The overall findings of the selected room shows that the temperature and relative humidity level are not at the thermal comfort level. Hence, an analysis will be carried out to see the factors affecting the thermal comfort level.

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE OF STUDY
One of the main purposes of this study is to get an understanding of the general principle of heat transfer. Factors such as the effect of the sun of the thermal performance of the building, thermal mass, insulation and air movement will be recorded in this report. Furthermore, this assignment will increase our knowledge on how different building materials thermal conductivity (k-value), measure of heat loss (u-value), thermal resistance (r-value) has different effects on heat gain or thermal environment in a particular space. Lastly, we will be able to identify the environmental conditions related to the site conditions, climate and human factor.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Since the process of data logging the temperature readings and humidity only last for 72 hours, it might not be an accurate representation of the area s condition. Being placed in a small room, the data logger might also be affected by the daily activities in the room by the fellow resident. The room also has a huge sliding door made out of glass which will be an external weather factor that affects the readings when the curtains are not closed.

PREVIEW
In this report, we will be presenting details about the experimented room, architectural drawings of the house, results of the data logger, thermal analysis, wind analysis, solar analysis and a discussion on ways to improve the thermal comfort of the house.

METHODOLOGY

DATA LOGGER
This data logger is called a thermal hygrometer. It is a device that records data over time with a built-in instrument or either an external instrument and sensor. The main purpose of this hygrometer is to record both temperature and humidity simultaneously for a given period of time. In this project, the data is recorded for 3 days and saved up. To prevent the data from being plagued with errors, the data logger was placed on a table which is located in the middle of the room. The table is 1.0 meter above the ground floor. The temperature and humidity was recorded every 60 minutes and the device was not exposed to any external source of heat that might disturb the reading.

The thermo hygrometer.

SITE PLAN

Satellite map of the site plan.

The room with the data logger is located on the ground floor of 61, Jalan SS15/2D, Subang Jaya, 47500, Selangor which is a double-storey terrace house. Since the site is located right in the middle of a housing area, there wont be any activities that affect the readings of the data logger.

FLOOR PLAN
The selected room in the house is located in the south west corner of the ground floor. The room is a little cramped and certain appliances such as the laptop and lights will emit heat that can affect the readings of the data logger.

Room plan.

Ground floor plan.

ELEVATION
Since the house is located in between two other terrace houses, only the front elevation of this house is visible. Based on the elevation and the floor plan, the room has a huge sliding door that can be opened for ventilation and lighting. When not in use, there are curtains to block the sunlight from entering the room and providing unnecessary heat.

Front elevation.

SECTION
With the section of the house, the length and height of doors, windows, openings and furniture can be seen clearly.

Section A-A

LOCATION OF DATA LOGGER

The data logger was placed on a table in the middle of the room which is 1 meter above the ground level of the first floor. This specific location was chosen so that it would be away from any other heat sources in the room.

DETAILS OF THE ROOM (CONSTRUCTION & BUILDING MATERIALS)

The room chosen is a bedroom located inside a double-storey terrace house. This room is 3500mm wide, 4500mm long, and 3000mm in height. The bricks walls are cover by concrete cement and a layer of white paint. The floor of the room is cover by tiles. The entrance to the room is a single wooden hinged door. The room also has sliding doors with three normal glass panels, which are facing the north. The room is only furnished with two fluorescent lights and two ceiling fans.

As there are no windows in the room, the only glass present is in the sliding door. The door is just made up of basic glass which has very weak insulating properties.

Sliding door.

Concrete brick wall.

The walls in this selected room are made of the concrete brick wall which prevents the heat from passing through so easily. It is capable of insulating the room.

The floor tiles are made of marble, and marble flooring has cooling properties that helps in a warm climate. The marble floor will stay cool on hot days and the smooth texture is relaxing to our feet.

Marble tiles.

Wooden door.

Wooden doors are very commonly used in Malaysia due to the factor that it is very cheap and economical. Although cheap, wooden doors are generally not resistant to the hot and humid weather and may crack after a period of time.

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HUMAN ADJUSTMENTS

On a hot day, the occupant usually turns the fan on maximum speed and directs it towards himself. He might also slide the sliding door wide open for more air circulation. If the heat is really unbearable, hell have to wear a singlet and prepare a cold drink to cool himself down.

On a cold and rainy day, the occupant will only leave the sliding door slightly open and put the fan at its lowest speed. He will also put on a jacket if the temperature gets even lower. Warmup exercises are also another option to keep the body warm.

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RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

The monitoring of the data logger started at 12:28am on the 12th of September 2013 until 12.28am on the 15th of September 2013 for a total amount of 3 days. The temperature and relative humidity was constantly recorded after every hour. The recorded values are then placed in a table and plotted on a graph for further analysis. Studies and researches on thermal comfort were then carried out after collecting all the data of temperature and humidity. The tables shown in the next pages will show all the data we collected and also several factors that will change the readings were included such as whether the room door or sliding door were left open. The few graphs included will further explain the analysis of the data we collected throughout this experiment.

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TABLES
12th September 2013

Time 0:28:20 1:28:23 2:28:26 3:28:29 4:28:32 5:28:35 6:28:38 7:28:41 8:28:44 9:28:47 10:28:50 11:28:53 12:28:56 13:28:59 14:29:03 15:29:06 16:29:09 17:29:12 18:29:15 19:29:18 20:29:21 21:29:24 22:29:27 23:29:30

Relative Humidity (%) 68.5 71.4 72.4 72.9 73.1 73.7 73.7 73.9 73.8 73.9 73.4 72.4 71.1 70.4 70.3 70.3 71 70.6 70.4 70.1 69.5 69.5 69.3 69.1

Temperature (C) 29.9 30 29.9 29.8 29.7 29.6 29.5 29.5 29.5 29.7 29.7 29.8 29.8 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.2 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.4 30.4 30.4

Door x x x x x x x x x x x / / x x x / x x x x x x x

Sliding Door / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Desktop / / x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x / / / / / /

Highest temperature : 30.4C Lowest temperature : 29.5C Highest RH value Lowest RH value : 73.9 : 68.5

/ = open/on x = closed/off

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13th September 2013

Time 0:29:33 1:29:33 2:29:33 3:29:33 4:29:33 5:29:33 6:29:33 7:29:33 8:29:33 9:29:33 10:29:33 11:29:33 12:29:33 13:29:33 14:29:33 15:29:33 16:29:33 17:29:33 18:29:33 19:29:33 20:29:33 21:29:33 22:29:33 23:29:33

Relative Humidity (%) 69.1 71.1 71.4 72 72.6 72.8 72.8 73.1 72.9 72.5 70.9 68.6 67.7 65.9 67.8 68.1 68.3 68.6 68.4 68.2 68.4 68.4 68.6 69.4

Temperature (C) 30.4 30.6 30.4 30.3 30.1 30.1 29.9 29.8 29.9 30.1 30.2 30.2 30.4 30.6 30.6 30.4 30.2 30.4 30.1 30.2 30.2 30.4 30.5 30.6

Door x x x x x x x x x x x x x / x x x x x x x x x x

Sliding Door / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Desktop / / / x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x / / / / /

Highest temperature : 30.6C Lowest temperature : 29.8C Highest RH value Lowest RH value : 73.1 : 67.7

/ = open/on x = closed/off

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14th September 2013

Time 0:30:47 1:30:50 2:30:53 3:30:56 4:30:59 5:31:02 6:31:05 7:31:08 8:31:11 9:31:14 10:31:17 11:31:20 12:31:23 13:31:27 14:31:30 15:31:33 16:31:36 17:42:51 18:42:54 19:42:57 20:21:02 20:28:07 21:28:10 22:28:14 23:28:17 0:28:20

Relative Humidity (%) 70.1 70.5 71.1 70.9 70.6 70.6 71 71.2 71.4 71.3 70.8 70.6 69.6 69.9 70.2 69.6 69.2 69 69.5 70.4 70 68.2 68.2 68.1 68.1 68.1

Temperature (C) 30.6 30.5 30.4 30.3 30.3 30.2 29.9 29.8 29.8 29.9 30 30.1 30.2 30.4 30.6 30.4 30.3 30.2 30.4 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.2 30.1 30 30

Door x x / x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Sliding Door / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Desktop / / x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x / / / / / / /

Highest temperature : 30.6C Lowest temperature : 29.8C Highest RH value Lowest RH value : 71.4 : 68.1

/ = open/on x = closed/off

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100

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Temperature and Relative Humidity from the 12/9/13 to 14/9/13

Temperature Humidity ext Temperature ext humidity

Total data accumulated in 3 days in a single graph.

0:30:00 2:30:00 4:30:00 6:30:00 8:30:00 10:30:00 12:30:00 14:30:00 16:30:00 18:30:00 20:30:00 22:30:00 0:30:002 2:30:004 4:30:006 6:30:008 8:30:0010 10:30:0012 12:30:0014 14:30:0016 16:30:0018 18:30:0020 20:30:003 22:30:005 0:30:007 2:30:009 4:30:0011 6:30:0012 8:30:0014 10:30:0016 12:30:0018 14:30:0020 16:30:0022 18:30:0024 20:30:0026 22:30:0028 0:30:0030

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THERMAL ANALYSIS

INDOOR

80 70 60 50 40 Temperature 30 20 10 0 0:30:00 3:30:00 6:30:00 9:30:00 12:30:00 15:30:00 18:30:00 21:30:00 0:30:002 3:30:005 6:30:008 9:30:0011 12:30:0014 15:30:0017 18:30:0020 21:30:004 0:30:007 3:30:0010 6:30:0012 9:30:0015 12:30:0018 15:30:0021 18:30:0024 21:30:0027 0:30:0030 Humidity

12th September 2013 On this day, the temperature was at its lowest from 3.30am until noon. The temperature ranged between 29 degrees and 30 degrees. It started increasing after 12pm and peaked at 30.4 degrees from 8.30pm to 11.30pm. There isnt that much change in the room temperature but the sliding door was slightly opened the whole day for some ventilation. The door was only opened for a few hours during the day to promote air circulation. The temperature peaking at midnight instead of during the day was due to the rain. The level of humidity was at its highest during the day as well.

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13th September 2013 On the 13th of September, the temperature was mostly above 30 degrees. The temperature was at its lowest in the early hours of the day from 6.30am to 8.30am ranging from 29.8 to 29.9 degrees. The temperature peaked at 30.6 degrees at 1.30am, 1.30pm and 11.30pm. The humidity started decreasing from 10.30am until midnight. This is because that it was sunny throughout the day. The door was only opened once in the afternoon while the sliding door was opened throughout the day.

14th September 2013 For the 14th of September, the temperature was also above 30 degrees most of the time and was at its lowest in the morning as well from 6.30am to 9.30am. That was also the only time the temperature went below 30 degrees. The temperature peaked at 30.6 degrees at 12.30am and 2.30pm. The weather throughout the day was also mostly sunny. The humidity did not have any drastic drops throughout the day but decreased slightly during the evening and night. The sliding door was left opened the whole day.

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OUTDOOR

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 ext Temperature ext humidity

8:30:00

0:30:00

4:30:00

0:30:002

4:30:006

8:30:0010

0:30:007

12:30:00

16:30:00

20:30:00

4:30:0011

8:30:0014

12:30:0014

16:30:0018

12:30:0018

16:30:0022

The outdoor temperature peaks at 33C everyday around the afternoon ranging from 1.30pm to 4.30pm. The lowest temperature is 25C and only occurs during the midnight until dawn. The highest relative humidity level can reach 94% and the lowest touches 62%. A hypothesis that can be made from the relation of these two variables is, the higher the temperature, the lower the relative humidity level gets.

20:30:0026

0:30:0030

20:30:003

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COMPARISON BETWEEN THE OUTDOOR AND INDOOR DATA TEMPERATURE

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 0:30:00 3:30:00 6:30:00 9:30:00 12:30:00 15:30:00 18:30:00 21:30:00 0:30:002 3:30:005 6:30:008 9:30:0011 12:30:0014 15:30:0017 18:30:0020 21:30:004 0:30:007 3:30:0010 6:30:0012 9:30:0015 12:30:0018 15:30:0021 18:30:0024 21:30:0027 0:30:0030 Temperature ext Temperature

Based on the graph above, the indoor temperature is mostly constant compared to the outdoor temperature which varies a lot more. The indoor temperature does follow the outdoor temperature and increases during the day but only to a certain extent. The experimented room has no windows at all and only a sliding door was slightly opened for air circulation. The sliding door, however has a large curtain that closed it during the period of data logging. It is believed that this is the main cause for the indoor temperature to be so static throughout the experiment.

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HUMIDITY

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0:30:00 3:30:00 6:30:00 9:30:00 12:30:00 15:30:00 18:30:00 21:30:00 0:30:002 3:30:005 6:30:008 9:30:0011 12:30:0014 15:30:0017 18:30:0020 21:30:004 0:30:007 3:30:0010 6:30:0012 9:30:0015 12:30:0018 15:30:0021 18:30:0024 21:30:0027 0:30:0030 Humidity ext Humidity

The indoor and outdoor humidity follows the same pattern but the relative humidity changes for the indoors do not change as drastically as compared to the humidity outdoors. Compared to the relative humidity outdoor, the relative humidity indoor seems almost static during the 3 days of recording. There is also no air conditioning in the experimented room and only a fan is used to help cool the room. Since the indoor temperature was mostly constant, the relative humidity had to follow suit.

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WIND ANALYSIS

Wind rose diagram.

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SOLAR ANALYSIS DAILY SUN PATH

Plan view of the sun path.

The Sun rising from the east.

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The Sun nearing noon.

The Sun setting in the west.

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ANNUAL SUN PATH

January evening.

April evening.

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July evening.

October evening.

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SOLAR RADIATION
The recorded room will not be affected by the sunlight during the evening as it is located at the west side of the house. Hence, the solar radiation in the evening will not be included.

ANNUAL SOLAR RADIATION IN THE MORNING

January, 10am.

April, 10am.
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July, 10am.

October, 10am.

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ANNUAL SOLAR RADIATION IN THE AFTERNOON

January, 1pm.

April, 1pm.
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July, 1pm.

October, 1pm.

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BIOCLIMATIC CHART

The chart above is the bioclimatic chart that has a selected comfort zone (the temperature range within which one is comfortable following the readings from MS1525) and an average value of the temperature and relative humidity.

The red point indicates that the indoor condition of the room is far from the comfort zone. More wind movement is needed to lower the temperature of the room to the comfort zone. Using shades from trees and roofs is also a way to keep the temperature lower.

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A constant air movement is really important to keep the room temperature at comfortable levels due to the tropical climate of Malaysia which is hot and humid. Windows must be shaded from direct sunlight and opened for good air circulation. One of the most common ways in Malaysia to increase the air movement in house is by using fans.

As the relative humidity of our climate is high, its difficult for our sweat to evaporate and in turn causes us discomfort. A dryer air would benefit us much more. In order to do this, certain houses use dehumidifiers to keep the relative humidity at the comfort level.

To achieve the comfort zone in an indoor environment, a good ventilation and dehumidification will be needed.

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DISCUSSION
With reference to MS1525, the passive design strategy is one of the most optimal way and should be used to help improve the comfort level of the internal environment in the room. The important factors that should be considered when designing are landscape, building and room orientation, building faade, thermal insulation, windows, roof design, building materials and others.

DESIGN ADJUSTMENTS

1) Building Orientation
The orientation of the house is one of the main factors that affect the environmental quality of the internal space. It will impact the energy performance of the building over its entire life cycle. There might also be microclimate changes in the related spaces.

The house that were conducting the experiment has a north orientation. It is located in between 2 houses and its east and west faade cannot be seen. Hence, there are no side windows and only a huge sliding door is located at the north. This is actually great and fits the description in MS1525 where buildings which are located near the equator should face the North or South and minimize the East or West orientation. This will avoid direct sunlight from entering the buildings whilst harvesting the daylight and reduce the amount of electricity used.

However, the opening from this sliding door is way too large and is thus mostly closed by curtains most of the time. Without the curtains, the room will receive and excessive amount of sunlight and heat causing thermal and visual discomfort. The door should be replaced by smaller windows or decreased in size to be put to proper use.

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2) Natural Ventilation
Natural ventilation is the use of the natural forces of wind and buoyancy to deliver sufficient fresh air and air change to ventilate enclosed spaces without active temperature controls or mechanical means.

Single-sided ventilation when one door is open.

Cross ventilation when both doors are open.

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Natural air driven into the room

STACK VENTILATION Hot air is less dense than cold air. Therefore, hot air will rise higher in the internal space while cold air sinks lower. A good ventilation system should consider about the way to control the movement of air to achieve the optimum air change rate. A good design that incorporates stack ventilation will help to improve the internal ventilation.

With only one outlet as an opening, the ventilation in the room is poor. To improve this condition and thermal comfort of the room, we would suggest to install a ventilation fan at the wall of the sleeping area to increase the air exchange rate of the room.

The ventilation fan will help the room to perform the cross and stack ventilation and improve the air circulation. We would also suggest the user of the room to open the sliding door fully on hot days to increase the air change rate. This is because only one panel of the sliding door is usually opened, which only provides 33% of ventilation efficiency.

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Hot air rises and is driven out by the ventilation fan.

Cold air sinking. nks 36

3) Building Materials
Building materials is another prime factor that affects the internal environment of a building. The only opening in this room which is the sliding door is made out of normal glass only. This glass has a poor performance in reflecting the light and UV rays which are the main factors that lead to high internal temperature. Furthermore, the huge size of the sliding door makes the situation even worse. Therefore, we suggest changing the glass sliding door to double glazing glass or tinted glass to reflect more UV rays.

4) Shading Devices
In order to reduce the direct heat gain from the sun radiation through openings and windows, the ground level of the house is designed with a porch and overhang to shade the openings. However the roof of this house is oddly designed because there are no roof overhangs that shade the windows on the first floor. Therefore, the roof should be extended slightly to provide some shade from the sun for the upper levels.

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5) Roof Insulation
To ensure that the thermal comfort level of a house is always optimum, the design and construction of the roof is extremely important as it is the part which receives the most exposure to sunlight. An example for smart roof designs is creating a ventilated loft to allow the trapped heat within the roof to exit. An insulated ceiling design should also be used in the house to reduce the heat transferred into the house from the roof.

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CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, the experimented room in this assignment is not in the thermal comfort level for people. Even though the building has the correct orientation, the ventilation in this small room is very poor. This leads to a high temperature indoors.

Since there is only one opening in the room which is the sliding door, cross ventilation will not usually occur due to the entrance to the room being closed most of the time. Due to the size of the sliding doors, curtains are usually drawn out to block out the excessive sunlight. If the sliding door was replaced with smaller openings, the occupant will not have to on the lights in his room so frequently.

The building materials of the house can also use a better selection to improve the thermal comfort. For example, the glass sliding door should be replaced with glazed glass for better insulation. Furthermore, the roof of the house should have an extended overhang to shield the upper levels of the house from direct sunlight.

There are many ways to improve the thermal comfort of this house besides relying on mechanical means. A well designed house should have a great energy efficiency without constraining the creativity of the design and comfort of the occupants.

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REFERENCES

1) Stein, B. & Reynolds, John S.2000. Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings.New York. John Wiley.

2) MS 1525, Code of Practice on Energy Efficiency and Use of Renewable Energy for NonResidential Buildings.

3) Weather information of Subang Jaya from http://weatherspark.com/averages/34046/SubangJaya-Selangor-Malaysia

4) Weather information of Petaling Jaya from http://www.weatherforecast.com/locations/Petaling-Jaya/forecasts/latest

5) Site plan from https://maps.google.com/

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