Report passive cooling natural lighting

Asian Architecture [ARC 2213/2234]
PROJECT 1: CASE STUDY
Passive Cooling and Natural Lighting as Effective
Strategies in Minimizing Energy Consumption in
Warehouse of Sekeping Serendah, Selangor.
NAME: Lim Chin Yi
STUDENT ID: 0315627
LECTURER: Mr. Koh Jing Hao
SUBMISSION DATE: 28 June 2016

Passive Cooling and Natural Lighting as Effective Strategies in Minimizing Energy
Consumption in Warehouse, Sekeping Serendah
ARC 2213/2234 Asian Architecture 3
Passive Cooling and Natural Lighting as Effective Strategies in
Minimizing Energy Consumption in Warehouse of Sekeping
Serendah, Selangor.
Table of Contents Page
Abstract ........................................................................................................................4
1.0 Introduction.....................................................................................................5
2.0 Factors Affecting the Energy Consumption in building ....................................5
3.0 Passive Design Features in Warehouse .........................................................7
3.1 Passive Cooling..........................................................................................7
3.1 Natural Lightng ...........................................................................................9
4.0 Minimization of Energy Consumption in Warehouse...... Error! Bookmark not
defined.
5.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................14
6.0 References........................................................................................................15

Abstract
The purpose of doing a study on the passive design strategies used in Warehouse,
Sekeping Serendah is to identify the passive design features and how do they help to
reduce the consumption of energy in the building. This is important as the electricity
generation in Malaysia is mainly fossil fuel based. By reducing the demand for energy
consumption, lesser pollutants will be released to the environment and our dependence
on unrenewable sources that are becoming more limited by day will be reduced.
Literature reviews based on various sources such as books and internet were
conducted to gain understanding and validation on the passive design in the building. It
is found that 2 main design strategies were used in Warehouse, which are the passive
cooling and natural lighting method. Passive cooling methods found in the building are
internal cooling through sun shading devices such as roofs and surrounding plants;
natural ventilation through cross ventilation and layout planning; and thermal mass
cooling strategy. On the other hand, natural lighting in the building is enhanced with the
open layout planning and strategic placement of skylight. With the application of these
carefully considered passive design strategies, comfort of occupants could be
maintained with lower building energy use, hence reducing the total energy
consumption, especially the fossil-fuel based energy which currently as the primary
energy source in Malaysia.

1.0 Introduction
Electricity has become one of the necessities in the modern era. The electricity in
Malaysia is generated through several methods, which are thermal power generation,
hydropower generation and co-generation. Figure1.0 shows the percentages of
electricity generated by different power sources in year 2013. According to the figure,
thermal stations made up to 88% of the total electricity generated in Malaysia in 2013.
Hence, it is concluded that thermal power is the main method of to generate power in
Malaysia. The use of thermal plant has brought us a lot of convenience in life. However,
the combustion of fuels during the process has also caused thermal and air pollution to
the environment. Therefore, it is important to reduce the energy consumption to lower
the energy demand.
.
Tony Arnel (n.d.), the chairman of world green building council once said that, “The
building sector, which consumes as much as 40 percent of the world’s energy, 12
percent of its water and contributes 40 percent of the waste sent to landfill, is a major
part of this global problem. However, the building sector can be an even bigger part of
the solution.” This suggested that the reduce of energy consumption could be done
from the building sector which consumed a huge part of the energy produced. As a
solution, passive design has been applied widely by architects when designing building
to achieve a more sustainable building that required less energy.
Sekeping Serendah is a resort for retreat in Serendah, Rawang design by Ng Sek San.
It consists of 10 sheds built within 5 acres of the tropical rainforest, including the glass
sheds, timber sheds, mud sheds, warehouses and glass boxes. This paper will
investigate the passive design strategies used for the warehouse units in minimizing
the energy consumption by responding to the following questions:
Question1: What are the factors affecting energy consumption in the building?
Question2: What are the significant passive cooling features in Warehouse?
Question3: What are the significant natural lighting features in Warehouse?
Question4: How does the passive design features minimize the energy consumption in
Warehouse, Sekeping Serendah?
Figure 1.0: Percentages of Electricity Generated by Power Sources in Malaysia
Sources: (Malaysia Energy Information Hub, 2015).

2.0 Factors Affecting The Energy Consumption In Building
There are some main factors that are affecting the energy consumption in a building;
which are the users’ consumption behaviour and the use of appliances. The
consumption behaviour of users varies according to individual. Some individual may
have higher energy consumption compared to the others due to low awareness or
ignorance. While the people with environmental or energy conservation awareness are
more aware of their energy consumption behaviour hence minimizing the energy used.
For example, a simple act to switch off the appliances when they are not in used will
help contribute to reduce energy usage.
On the other hand, the use of electrical appliances is another factor that affect the
building energy usage. Centre for Environment, Technology& Development, Malaysia
(CETDEM) has done a study on the energy consumption of urban households in
Kajang and Petaling Jaya in 2006 (Figure2.0). According to the study, almost half of
the energy consumed is used for cooling the households. The reason of such huge
differences between the cooling usage and the other usages is caused by the high
power input of the cooling mechanism, especially for air-conditioning.
As a hot and humid tropical climate country, Malaysia has an annual temperature
ranging from 23°C to 34°C and mean relative humidity ranges from 80-90% throughout
the year (Malaysia Country Study Guide, 2008). The bioclimatic chart (figure2.1) shows
that the comfort zone level in Malaysia is not achieved without the application
mechanical cooling. Hence, cooling mechanism such as fans and air-condition is used
throughout the day to provide a comfortable living or working spaces.
Figure 2.0: Energy consumption of Malaysian urban households in Kajang & Petaling Jaya
Sources: (CETDEM, 2007).

Figure 2.1: Bioclimatic chart
Sources: (http://www.sbd.ulg.ac.be/academic/BioclimaticDesign/Images/Bioclimatic%20Chart%20Olgyay.jpg).

3.0 Passive Design Features in Warehouse
In order to minimize the energy usage of the Warehouse unit, Sek San has applied
passive cooling and natural lighting as his design strategies. The passive cooling
features used are sun shading, natural ventilation and thermal mass; the natural
lighting methods applied are open layout planning and skylight.
3.1 Passive Cooling
Passive cooling is a design strategy that emphasizes on the heat gain control and heat
dissipation of a building by blocking the heat gain or by removing the heat from the
building. Through passive cooling, the indoor thermal comfort could be improved with
little to no energy consumption.
Sun Shading
Sek San uses large zinc roofing with deep overhang to shade the Warehouse from
direct solar heat gain (Figure3.0). The shading device works effectively when used in
combination with the surrounding vegetation. As the Warehouse is located in the forest,
great shading and cool microclimate is provided naturally from the context.
Figure 3.0: The Warehouse with large overhang roofing and its surrounding vegetation
Sources: Sekeping Serendah

Natural Ventilation
On contrary to many of the buildings which tend to be sealed on their envelope and
have internal walls built, the Warehouse has large opening areas around its envelope
and minimal walls built in the interior (Figure3.1). This open layout concept is made
possible due to the context of the Warehouse being situated in the forest and its
purpose of being a temporary accommodation for visitors. This open layout promotes
cross ventilation across the building. The air movement replaces the stale air indoor
with fresh air, moderating the temperature indoor thus ensuring the thermal comfort of
the occupants.
Thermal Mass
Thermal mass strategy uses the ability of material that are able store and release heat
energy in building design. It requires materials with high specific heat capacity, high
density and thermal conductivity for this strategy to work effectively. The reinforced
concrete and masonry brick used as flooring in the Warehouse has high thermal mass
which helps to absorb the during the day and cool the interior (Figure3.1). The heat is
then released to the air at night when the temperature is cooler. This process helps to
maintain the thermal comfort and reducing the need for heavy mechanical cooling such
as air-conditioning.
Figure 3.1: Interior view of the Warehouse

3.2 Natural Lighting
The optimization of natural lighting in building is an effective way to decrease a building
energy use. Figure 3.2 shows the tiered approach to reducing energy requirement with
daylighting. It shows that the achieve of adequate daylighting by building design should
be prioritized before proceeding to artificial lighting (Lechner, 2009). As Malaysia
receives 12 hours long of daylight on average, it is highly encouraged for architects and
designers to fully utilized this natural source of light that comes free. This reduces the
energy needed to power the light during the day. In the Warehouse, Sek San has
maximized the natural lighting into the interior through the building planning and the
installation of skylights.
Open Layout Planning
The open plan of the Warehouse has allowed a fair amount of daylight into the building
as there are no walls and partitions blocking the reach of light (Figure3.2). Hence, it
eliminates the needs for artificial lighting during the day.
Figure 3.3: Interior view of the Warehouse
Figure 3.2: Tiered approach to reducing energy requirements with daylighting
Sources: Lechner, 2009

Skylight
Skylight is an opening on windows, roofs, or ceilings that allows natural light to be
admitted into the building. In Warehouse, plastic fixed unit skylights are installed on the
roof. It is non-operable but it works well in bringing the natural light into the interior
(Figure3.4).
Figure 3.4: Skylight of the Warehouse

4.0 Minimisation of Energy Consumption In Warehouse
The application of the passive design strategies in the Warehouse has helped in
consuming the energy. With passive cooling, the temperature indoor is cool without the
need for air-conditioning. However, simple mechanism such as the fans are still
needed to achieve the thermal comfort in our hot and humid country. Without the need
for air-conditioning which consumes high amount of electricity, the energy consumption
will be reduced significantly. On the other hand, the use of natural lighting during the
day in Warehouse has also helps in reducing usage of energy as the need for
mechanical lighting during the day is eliminated. There’s no actually statistic available
to showing the exact minimisation percentages of the energy in the Warehouse,
therefore a case study of the Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office Building is
done.
Figure 4.0: Chart of the minimization of the energy consumption in Sekeping Serendah

Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office Building
Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office building is national energy research centre
in Selangor (Figure4.1). It is a prime example of zero energy office building (ZEO) with
zero net energy consumption as the amount of energy used is equivalent to the amount
of the renewable energy produced on site. This is achieved by the application of design
strategies and technology. For examples, double pane windows and high efficiency
fans are installed to reduce the heat gain in the building and cool the building interior.
By using the combination of passive design and energy efficiency technology, the
energy use intensity of the building is reduced to 35-40kWH annually which is around
the 15 per cent of energy consumption of a typical office buildings in Malaysia (Clean
Energy | Action Project, 2015).
Using the Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office as example, it proves that the
energy consumption in the Warehouse could be minimize with the application of
passive design strategies.
Figure 4.1: Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office Building
Sources: http://www.cleanenergyactionproject.com/

5.0 Conclusion
As conclusion, the application of passive cooling (sun shading, natural ventilation and
thermal mass) and natural lighting (open layout and skylights) in the Warehouse is
indeed an effective strategy to minimize the energy consumption. With the reduce of
energy consumption, energy demand will decrease hence lowering the amount of
power supply needed from thermal plant.

6.0 References
Bioclimatic Chart [Online image]. Retrieved June4, 2016 from
http://www.sbd.ulg.ac.be/academic/BioclimaticDesign/Images/Bioclimatic%20Chart%20Olgyay.j
pg
CETDEM (2007). Energy consumption of Malaysian urban households in Kajang & Petaling
Jaya [Online image]. Retrieved June3, 2016 from
http://cetdem.org.my/wordpress/?page_id=2763
Clean Energy | Action Project (2015). Pusat Tenaga Malaysia Zero Energy Office Building (PTM
ZEO) | Case Study. Retrieved 26 June 2016, from
http://www.cleanenergyactionproject.com/CleanEnergyActionProject/CS.Pusat_Tenaga_Malays
ia_Zero_Energy_Office_Building___Zero_Net_Energy_Building_Case_Study.html
Lechner, N. (2009). Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Methods for Architects.
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Malaysia: Country Study Guide (4th ed.). (2008). Washington, D.C.: International Business
Publications.
Malaysia Energy Information Hub,. (2015). Electricity - Electricity Generation. Retrieved 30 May
2015, from
http://meih.st.gov.my/statistics?p_auth=B9WWB5e3&p_p_id=Eng_Statistic_WAR_STOASPubli
cPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=1&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-
1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_Eng_Statistic_WAR_STOASPublicPortlet_execution=e1
s1&_Eng_Statistic_W

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