SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN Modern Architecture Studies in Southeast Asia (MASSA) Research Unit Bachelor of Science

(Honours) (Architecture)

BUILDING SCIENCE 1 [ARC 2412] August 2013

Project 1: Human Perception of Comfort Level

ANG MIN QI CHAN CHEE KIONG CHRISTOPHER NG MAN KING ELEANOR NG CUI SHAN GARY CHONG LIM PEI XUAN LECTURER: MS CHERYL 0302123 0305473 0309552 0302936 0302527 0303862

CONTENT A. SUMMARY B. INTRODUCTION B.1 Introduction to Site B.2 Macro-Climate B.3 Micro-Climate C. METHODOLOGY C.1 Tool and Instrument: Data Logger C.2 Human Perception on Comfort Level C.3 Details of Materials of Construction C.4 Relevant to MS 1525 and UBBL D. RESULT & ANALYSIS D.1 Analysis on Data Logger Data D.1.1 Relationship between Temperature and Relative Humidity D.2 Thermal Analysis D.2.1 Bioclimatic Chart D.2.2 Thermal Heat Transfer D.2.3 Factors Affecting Temperature of Chosen Room D.2.4 Factors Affecting Buildings Climatic Performance D.3 Wind Analysis D.3.1 Wind Circulation in Chosen Site D.3.2 Ventilation Investigated in Chosen Room D.4 Sun Analysis D.4.1 Sun Path in Chosen Site D.4.2 Sun Shadow Investigated in Chosen Room E. CONCLUSION F. REFERENCES G. APPENDIX

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A. SUMMARY

Considering Majors and Various factors according to the Science of buildings, Thermal evolution within the spaces and the building environment is a major factor to be considered among the diverse factors called Standards in the building industry (MS 1525 for Malaysia)

In Simple Explanations, the aim for this project is mostly to acquire an adequate understanding of the Thermal Theories residing in the Theory of Thermal and Ventilation Standards according to the Malaysian Building Standard MS 1525.

The task for this project consists of choosing a space in a housing unit (house), and then analyzing the space in terms of thermal quantities such as temperature, relative humidity, occupants activities and thermal behaviour. This Experiment was relatively established according to the change in temperature of the Exterior Surrounding of the house to the in interior of the house.

In order to do such analysis, a Data logger, also called the Hydrometer, was allocated to each group and it is the instrument used to measure the temperature change and Relative Humidity in the space.

A Wind rose diagram and a complete analysis of the thermal behaviour of the exterior, meaning the Relative humidity and Temperature change has been executed. Macro and Micro analysis of the thermal behaviour has also been included in this experiment which can lead to a comparative analysis in between the overall house (including interior and exterior) and the chosen zone in the house.

MS 1525 standards and requirements has been verified and analyzed throughout the whole building system including superstructure and infrastructure such as openings, alternative cooling devices and occupants daily circulation paths.

B. INTRODUCTION

This Report is a complete analytical document about the thermal behaviour of which the impact of the weather outside is affecting the space enclosed from inside to outside. A study about Thermal Comfort including their diverse factors and proofs obtained during the analytical and experimental stages of this projects journey.

Various Factors and aspects of the space chosen which is the Living room of the house situated in Damansara at this specific address, 11A Jalan Kenyalang 11/15i , 47810 Kota Damansara. Factors affecting the thermal comfort within the space such as, Bio-climatic Change, Sun path during a years cycle, the wind rose within the surrounding region, and also the activity roaster of the activities experienced by the occupants during these three days of experiment.

Full explanation concerning the different stages executed during the experiments session has been elaborated through a whole topic of this report also including proof of the reactions through a set of diagrams, charts and tables explaining how Bio-climatic change can have such a significant impact on the chosen space. Research and analysis has also been executed on a topic which can be considered critical in the thermal comfort of a house, Human metabolism. As humans are living bodies, they emit heat to the surrounding as they also absorbs heat from the surrounding. So, the aim of the analysis is to find out proofs of techniques of how architects use to make the space within stay at an average tolerable temperature to the human metabolism which is mostly the aim and meaning of the term Thermal Comfort.

B.1 INTRODUCTION TO SITE KOTA DAMANSARA

Fig. 1: Site plan of the location of the living area concerned

The House where the analysis has been executed is located in Kota Damansara in the state of Subang Jaya, Malaysia. The house is of type a Semi-detached House and is situated in a private residential housing area which is one of Sunways properties. Once in the area, it can actually be seen that the circulation pattern creating a grid consisting of lateral and longitudinal paths. The houses exact location is pointed at the Housing areas site plan .

Fig 2: Site plan of the location of the house

Coming to a closer look at the house, it is a 2 storey building build under the supervision and maintenance of Sunway, and is attached to another house at the back. So, in other words, A semi-detached house like the chosen one is a particular case as it is linked as a back to back unit.

Fig 3: house at 11A Jalan Kenyalang 11/15i , 47810 Kota Damansara

Fig 4: Interior of the chosen space 7

Fig 5: Elevated view of the Living room

THE HOUSE IN MULTIPLE VIEWS

GROUND FLOOR

FIRST FLOOR

SOUTH ELEVATION

WEST ELEVATION

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EAST ELEVATION

TOP VIEW

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WEST ELEVATION SECTION

EAST ELEVATION SECTION

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B.2 MACRO-CLIMATE
Malaysias macro climate consists of a tropical climate. Its humidity and temperatures are constant and high. Its wind speed is low on average. The house has been designed to adapt towards this hot and humid climate. Its orientation and shading devices have been made to prevent heat gain and encourage air movement within the structural compound.

TEMPERATURE The graph above plots the average and extreme temperatures that have been recorded over an annual period of the chosen site. The graph helps to determine the thermal levels of the environment surrounding the site. Within the context of the selected house, the average max temperature that has been recorded on an annual basis is a fluctuation around 32C and the average minimum varies around 24C. These temperature recordings state that the thermal conditions can be slightly uncomfortable due to the heat; however they are still within acceptable conditions.

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WIND The graph above displays the average expected wind speeds and the maximum recorded wind speeds that have been recorded on a monthly basis. Based on the graph, the highest wind speed recorded was during the month of May, at 63km/h. The lowest wind speed was recorded on November, at 28km/h. The rest of the other months fluctuates 30km/h and 56km/h.

RAIN/PERCIPITATION The graph above shows the average number of days in any month that rain is expected to fall. The most days that rained within a month was 23 days during the month of November. The lowest recorded was 13, both on May and August. These figures conclude that there is a large amount of rainfall within the site. This can affect humidity and temperature levels.
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B.3 MICRO-CLIMATE
DVILLA, KOTA DAMANSARA
DVilla (Exterior) 12th September 2013 Living Space

Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature Average Temperature Maximum Humidity Minimum Humidity Average Humidity

32.0 24.0 27.9 100 59.0 80.1

13th September 2013

29.8 27.3 28.7 77.3 63.1 71.0

Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature Average Temperature Maximum Humidity Minimum Humidity Average Humidity

33.0 24.0 26.7 100 56.0 85.7

14th September 2013

29.3 28.0 28.5 77.4 66.2 72.1

Maximum Temperature Minimum Temperature Average Temperature Maximum Humidity Minimum Humidity Average Humidity

32.0 25.0 27.2 100 67.0 85.9

28.8 27.9 28.3 78.3 73.5 75.8

Table 1a: Maximum, minimum and average temperature and relative humidity for both exterior and interior environment from 12th 14th September.

From the table above, we can conclude that the interior living space has a higher average temperature than the exterior while a lower relative humidity if compared to exterior environment. We analysed that this condition occurs because of existence of good shading devices for both interior and exterior.
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C. METHODOLOGY C.1 THE DATA LOGGER

Fig 6: The Data Logger with the sensor and SD card.

HOW DOES THIS DEVICE WORK? Every living body is host of energy, mostly heat or thermal energy. So, what is happening during the temperature drop is the hot air particles in the surrounding environment, by getting close to the water pond, are being turned off from a reaction called Excitation. When excitation occurs the body possesses an excess in energy which makes the body to collide with other particles and starts releasing heat as a result, but once approached by a cooling body, they start to gradually lose this excess of energy and start flowing regularly. In other words, the water pond is acting as a cooling device or simply as a natural temperature regulator.

The high rate in terms of humidity is due to the presence of the water pond as said before the relationship in between Temperature and Relative Humidity in of inverse proportion which means that it is perfectly natural that if temperature is decreased the level of humidity on the other side is automatically increased.

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Start: 10.00 pm on 11th September 2013 End: 10.00 pm on 14th September 2013
For this experiment, a particular instrument used to measure the fluctuations in temperature and internal relative humidity called as the Hydrometer has been used at a duration of three days to measure the thermal behaviour within the Living Room. Formally for the proper usage of the data logger, the apparatus is placed at a height of 1m above ground level approximately in the centre of the space. The yellow dot indicates the location of the Hydrometer. During the whole 3 days of the experiment the Hydrometer will be exposed to the behaviour of the room without the usage of the Air-con in order to not disturb the trend of the original thermal behaviour of the room. Readings will keep on being recorded by the data logger and at the end of the experiment, graphs are plotted in order to compare the difference between the interior temperature and relative humidity (RH) and as well as the exterior. Relationships of inverse proportion are also found between Temperature and relative humidity.

Fig 6: The location of Data Logger in the Living Room as Chosen Site.

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Fig 7: Micro-environment of the chosen space: The Living Room

Fig 8: Perspective View of the Living Room

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Fig 9: shows actual visualisation of the chosen space

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C.2 HUMAN PERCEPTION ON COMFORT LEVEL

According to the universal standard ASHRAE Standard 55, which can also be considered as a condition of the human mind and perception. According to the standard, the human instinct of perception will express emotions and expressions of discomfort or comfort in relationship to the surrounding thermal condition in the space. This was divided into three categories of factors that affect the comfort level of the space occupants such as personal and individual factors, measurable environmental factors and psychological factors. Thermal comfort is mostly affected by the type of clothing wore by the host, the activities occurring in the area as well as the human metabolism and also the body mass. According to simple logic, the higher the percentage of fat and other insulating matters in a body, the more the heat gain and the less the fat percentage, the lower the heat gain. In other words, the body mass factor of a person will mostly affect his own comfort towards the thermal ambiance in his/her surrounding. According to MS1525, the design conditions, for interior air-conditioned spaces for better adequate comfort at a cooler environment should be considered as following. The recommended type of dry bulb to be used should be able to emit heat at a restricted maximal range of 23 degree Celsius to 26 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature should be of average 22 degree Celsius so that the occupant would feel comfortable. Besides that, recommended air movement should be in the range of 0.15 m/s to 0.50 m/s and the maximum air movement should be around 0.7 m/s. Major flow of air particles waves would also lead to comfortable air ventilation for individual at indoors, with respect to human comfort tolerance. Recommended level of relative humidity should be around 55 % to 70 % in order to keep the space occupant thermally comfortable. The metabolic rate depends on the activity. It is normally measured in the unit met. A met is defined as the metabolic rate per unit area of a sedentary person and is found to be equal to about 58.2 W/m2. This is also known as basal metabolic rate. Table 29.1 shows typical metabolic rates for different activities: Studies show that the metabolic rate can be correlated to the rate of respiratory oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production. Based on this empirical equations have been developed which relate metabolic rate to O2 consumption and CO2 production.

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C.3 DETAILS OF MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION

Sector in house

Material

Resistant

Description

Wall

Brick

Fire, Sound, Termite, Decay Fire, Moisture, Thermal,

8 brick, 200mm

Floor

Ceramic tiles

Chemical

450mmx450mm

Merbau wood

Decay, Acoustics

70mmx19mm

Door

Timber

Heat, Air, Wind

210 x 90 x 45 (mm)

Window panel

Aluminum

Rust, Thermal, Corrosion

40mm thick

Glass Panel

Tempered glass

Rust, Dust, Wind Fire, Rust, Decay, Weather

3mm thick, high transparency

Roof

Clay

resistance

L 19.8" W11.3" T0.43" H3.5"

Table

Hardwood

Decay, Acoustics

L46 1/2 " W30 3/4 " H17 3/4 "

Sofa

Cow hide

Decay Fire, Rust, Decay, Weather

W83" x D35" x H35"

Exterior floor

Clay

resistance

200 mm x 200 mmx 25 mm

Natural stone

Decay, Thermal, Stain

237 mm x 135 mm x 5 mm

Cenghal Water based Paint (White&Beige)

Thermal, Termite, Decay

37.5 mm x 87.5 mm

Decay

Window grill

Iron

Decay, Weather resistance

4mmx4mm 21

C.4 RELEVANT TO UBBL AND MS 1525

NATURAL LIGHTING AND VENTILATION According to UBBL Law, every room designed, adapted or used for residential purposes shall be provided with natural lighting and natural ventilation by means of one or more windows having a total area of not less than 10% of the clear floor area in that particular room and shall have openings capable of allowing a free uninterrupted passage of air of not less than 5% of such floor area. Area of total windows and door = 10.52 m2 Area of clear floor with data logger = 25m2 Natural lighting and ventilation (%) = 10.52/25 X 100% = 42.08 % Hence, the occupant has sufficient natural lighting and ventilation in the room.

MINIMUM AREA OF ROOMS IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS The width of every habitable room in a residential building shall be not less than 2 metres. Clear floor area of selected room (m2) = 25m2 The area of room exceeds the minimum requirement and considered habitable.

HEIGHT OF ROOMS IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS, SHOPHOUSES, SCHOOLS ETC. The height of rooms in residential buildings, except shop houses shall be : For living rooms and bedrooms are not less than 2.5 metres

Height of selected room (m) = 3.5m The minimum requirement and considered habitable.

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According to UBBL, residential buildings shall be provided with natural lighting and natural ventilation. The openings area should not be less than 10% of floor area. The reason for this standard is to allow sufficient natural ventilation and sunlight to penetrate through the buildings so that each floor would have enough light and ventilation. In this house, the front sliding door opening provides efficient sunlight but due to the wrong orientation of house, natural ventilation is poor.

Fig 10: Wind flow and direct sunlight of building

According to UBBL, in order to achieve thermal comfort through air movement, a large opening at the external and internal wall should be made. Therefore, 15% to 20% of external openings are required on an external wall for achieving suitable amount of air movement

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Fig 11: Opening and wind flow of the building

According to UBBL, an opening at a high level of wall should be placed to allow ventilation and air change processes

Fig 12 : West faade of the building

According to the MS1525, a good passive design of orienting the longitudinal axis of the building to face north can be seen in the design in the case study building. Less fenestration is constructed at the east-west face to reduce the thermal heat gain and also direct sunlight. The north and south facing face would receive more diffused natural light which does not gives much solar heat gain.

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D. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS D.1 ANALYSIS ON DATA LOGGERS READINGS

Temperature (C) & Humidity (%)

Legend:

Period of Time

P Interior Graph 1: Graph Showed Relationship between Temperature and Relative Humidity for both Exterior and

Graph 1 has been generated using the readings recorded by the data logger. According to the graph, the temperature graph seem to be at a tolerable stability while the relative humidity graph shows more of a drastic change due to weather factors such as the rain. The graph also shows that the interior environment of the house is actually affected by the exterior environment especially concerning the relative humidity. From the graph above, it can also be proved that the relationship between temperature and relative humidity for both interior and exterior is of inverse proportion.

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D.1.1 ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY

The graph showed the relationship between temperature and relative humidity is inversely proportional.

On a Analytical point of view, it can be seen that the temperature and relative humidity for Indoor Space, mostly the temperature graph is close to be a perfect constant graph except for few fluctuation caused by drastic fluctuation from the environment outside. Logically, by comparing the 2 graphs, people would say that the temperature inside would be supposed to rise and drop together with the outside temperature and other conditions according to building techniques and technologies for tropical countries. The reason why such a phenomenon is occurring for this house is that the architect, while designing, created a non-consumer of energy device which is very simple and humble and which at the same time does not affect the environment in terms of pollution. This device is actually the water pond located at the Western area of the house which is positioned just next to the living rooms sliding door. This body actually acts as a cooling device by reducing the temperature outside which is near to the sliding door.

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D.2 THERMAL ANALYSIS

D.2.1 BIOCLIMATIC CHART

Average Temperature: 28.50411

Chart 1: Bioclimatic Chart to show the living spaces comfort level position.

From the readings of data logger, we obtained the average data of interior temperature and the relative humidity which are 28.5 and 73.0 respectively. With the bioclimatic chart, we plotted our average data and resulted in revealing that the environment of our selected site is actually not located within the comfort zone.

Average Humidity: 72.96301

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D.2.2 THERMAL HEAT TRANSFER

The heat transfers from a higher temperature object to a lower temperature object. Heat transfer changes the internal energy of both systems involved according to the First law of thermodynamics. The components of comfort can separated into two categories which are environmental factors and personal factors. Environmental factors such as air temperature, radiant temperature, humidity, and air velocity within the space, along with the personal factors of clothing insulation and metabolic heat.

D.2.3 FACTORS AFFECTING THERMAL COMFORT ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AIR TEMPERATURE

It is a quantity of the coldness and hotness of the air. The temperature is about the kinetic energy of gases contained in the air. The air temperature is depending on the velocity of movement of gas molecules. Air temperature is actually affecting the growth and reproduction of living organism and climate parameters. This factor is affecting other components such as rate of evaporation, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, precipitation patterns and types.

RADIANT TEMPERATURE
Heat radiates from a warmer surface is considered as thermal radiation. Radiant heat can be produced by any heat sources in the environment. There are two types of radiation to be analysed in this project, that are solar radiation and thermal radiation. Solar radiation is the heat transfer from the natural resources which is the sun. The energy emitted by the sun is also called electromagnetic energy. Heat and light are transferred to the building. The building locate facing the south which the sunlight penetrated through the openings from the east and west faade.

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1 3 4

Fig 13: The south faade which is the main entrance located showed all the shading devices.

Balcony (1) and the Roof (2) are actually helped in preventing the direct radiate from the sunlight above. Sliding Glass Door (3) provided the living space good ventilation while at the same time reducing the light penetrates directly into the house. Tall trees (4) located at the east side of the building helped a lot in reducing the surrounding temperature and act as a natural shading device for the openings located at the east part.

Fig 14: The electric appliances installed in the living space produced thermal radiation

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Radiant heat source from electric appliances is called thermal radiation. The electric appliances installed in the living space for example the lights are actually producing heat radiation. Other thermal radiation placed in the living room such as television, treadmill, sound system sets, cordless phone, etc. also produced heat energy into the surrounding environment and in order to increase the temperature. HUMIDITY Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air. A higher humidity does reduce the rate of evaporation as the water vapour is concentrated enough. Humidity can be measured in many ways including absolute, relative and specific while relative humidity is the most common measurement. Relative humidity is defined as the current absolute humidity relative to the maximum temperature and is measured in percentage. If the relative humidity is maintained between 40% to 70% will not show much effect on the environment. The outdoor relative humidity will affect the indoors and environment which is not air conditioned will showed a relative humidity above 70% in warm weather. In order to maintain a suitable humidity of the living space, there are many ways to do so. The below figure showed our chosen site has a pond besides the a sliding door facing west did improved the humidity of the house.

Fig 15: The location of pond outside the west of the building help to increase the humidity.

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AIR VELOCITY People staying in a particular space are actually sensitive towards the movement of air which is the air velocity. Air movements in the room bring away the heat energy in the environment and maintain the ventilation. In order to get a good air velocity, our chosen site has a lot of opening although mostly are in sliding glass doors which only having 45% of ventilation efficiency.

Fig 16: This picture shows that the living space is highly ventilated as there are sliding glass windows.

PERSONAL FACTORS

CLOTHING INSULATION Clothing is considered as our second skin while the building exterior wall is the third wall. So the clothing provided a good insulation to keep us in the comfort zone despite of the surrounding environment. At the same time, clothing as a protection may lead to create discomfort on the wearer as well.
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METABOLIC HEAT Human as living organism will produce metabolic heat during respiration or physical activity. However the metabolic rates are varies from each different individual physical characteristic. Ages, gender, activity level, type of clothing and climatic origin in this case are affecting an individuals comfort level. (Panchyk, 1984).

Metabolic rate is a term that refers to the amount of chemical energy that is released from the human body per unit time. This chemical energy is measured in calories. A humans metabolic rate can be affected by a number of factors that include eating habits, hormone levels, physical activities and an individuals mental state. A major aspect that affects a humans metabolic rate is the individuals Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). A persons BMR states the minimum requirement of calories they require in order to sustain life while resting. The BMR can be effected by an individuals environment and genetics which include, age, body temperature, diet, exercise, external temperature, and gender. In relation towards the context of the site, the high temperatures can cause a raise in the individuals BMR.

Table 1: The typical metabolic rates for specific daily activities.

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D.2.4 FACTORS AFFECTING BUILDINGS CLIMATIC PERFORMANCE

Climate is the variable that we cannot control and in order to make our building habitable, we as the architect need to consider some elements. For instance, the site context, the orientation of the building, the openings location and size, fully utilize and arrangement of the spaces, design of shading devices for both exterior and interior, materials choices, greenery and plants types, and etc.

DESIGN STRATEGICS
Changing a small variable in the building structures actually did help in increase the efficiency of the buildings performance. For example, vary the openings area, the wall thickness, and layout of plans. Building form is one of the important variables as the form affected the ventilation and sun penetration. The form is decided by the shape of the building outlook which is the ratio of building length to building depth. The form is also affecting the height of ceiling and faade area at the same time. Next, the orientation of the building is also one of the factors. The orientation of the building should be taking into deep consideration after analysis from the sun-path and wind rose diagrams in order to increase the efficiency for cooling devices. The placement of the faade did affect the types of shading devices to use to get the highest efficiency. Installation of the openings is another factor to affect the buildings climatic performance. The arrangement of openings in the house will change the wind direction and speed once the air entered the main entrance.

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PASSIVE COOLING STRATEGICS

G.Z. Brown identifies four passive cooling strategies in his book, Sun, Wind and Light and concluded those strategies as natural ventilation, evaporative cooling, high thermal mass and high thermal mass with night ventilation. In order to achieve natural ventilation (1), locate the Window openings on opposite sides of the building or in parallel is improving the cross ventilation. The stack ventilation can even improved the air quality and it can be produce by placing openings near the top of the stack. A good ventilated building showed air flow every time someone opened the building. The ability of the building materials in heat absorption causes the High thermal mass is depends on the ability of materials in the building to absorb heat during the day. Conclusion, the materials choices should consider the thermal mass to obtain the cooling effects. Night ventilation suggested the residents to increase the air flow during the night compared to the day. This is because at night the outdoor air helps in flushing away the heat accumulated inside the building. For evaporative cooling (2), evaporating water is used to decrease the indoor air temperature. For our chosen site, this strategic is applied by placing a pond besides one of the openings. Evaporation of the water surface helps in cooling down the surrounding environment and at the same time, the ventilation will help to cool down the indoor environment.

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BUILDING MATERIALS
Wall 1 BrickWall Composed of sand brick and mortar Strength and durability Resistant to erosion, decay, rot and age Fire and termite resistance Low embodied energy Weather resistance- UV, blistering heat, degradation Noise isolation Maintaining and stabilizing indoor temperature Thermal and acoustic insulation Flexible in application, high compressive strength Floor 1 Ceramic tile Long-lasting compared to other materials Fire and moisture resistance Resistance to abrasion and tread wear Slip resistance and frost resistance Thermal shock and stain resistance Chemical and bacteria resistance Available in variety colors and patterns Cost efficient 2 Merbau wood Strength and durability Good acoustics which prevents hollow sounds or vibrations Low maintenance and healthier indoor air quality Age and slip resistance

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Door 1 Timber Thermal insulation Resistant to rust, air and wind Bad conductor of heat and electricity Low maintenance Window panel 1 Aluminum Resistance to rust and chemical erosion Electrical and thermal insulation Strength and durability High tensile strength Lightweight, reflectivity and ductility Low maintenance and recyclability Glass panel 1 Tempered glass High tensile strength Strength and durability Better security feature compared to regular lime glass Resistance to high heat Energy efficiency, dust and termite proof Roof 1 Clay Thermal insulation and long lasting Strength and superior durability Rot, mold and water damage resistance Weather and freezing resistance Moisture resistance and fire-proof Recyclability and light weight

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Table 1 Hardwood Thermal insulation Resistant to rust, air and wind Bad conductor of heat and electricity Low maintenance Sofa 1 Cow hide Resistance to mold , age and decay Thermal insulation and long lasting

Exterior floor
1 Clay Thermal insulation and long lasting Strength and superior durability Rot, mold and water damage resistance Weather and freezing resistance Moisture resistance and fire-proof Recyclability and light weight 2 Natural stone Energy efficient and good heat absorption Low maintenance, resistant to rots, fades, warps, burns, dents, tears Strength and durability Termite and weather proof 3 Cenghal wood Strength and durability Good acoustics which prevents hollow sounds or vibrations Low maintenance and healthier indoor air quality Age and slip resistance Less production energy and recyclability

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Paint 1 Water based (White & Beige) Easily cleaned and low maintenance Dry, crack, fade and weather resistance Mildew resistance due do water base Cost efficient and eco-friendly Quick drying and easy application Window grill 1 Iron No maintenance and damage resistance Better security compared to no grille Lightweight frames , easy installation Strength and durability Age, decay and termite proof

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D.3 WIND ANALYSIS

D.3.1 WIND CIRCULATION IN CHOSEN SITE

During the month of September, the average daily wind speed has been around 6km/h, in which would be equivalent to about 4 mph, or 3 knots. The wind speed from our site is altered from 0 km/h to 20 km/h. The highest wind speed occurs on the 12th and 14th of September in which wind blew towards the north-west with the speed of 19 km/h at 3 p.m. under the condition of a broken cloud. Sturdy winds usually occurs during the time vary from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with warmer temperature within the range from 29C to 33C. In contrast, calmer wind will occurs during cooler temperature within the range from 24C to 27C during early in the morning and night time.

Frequency
20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 N NE E SE S SW W NW CALM

Frequency

Chart 2: The wind blows towards various directions throughout the day but it blows more in certain directions.

The most frequent direction of the wind:

The directions which has the most wind is the North-West with the highest frequency of 19 follow on by the direction due South-East with the frequency of 11 and direction due North and South-West with the frequency of 9. Thus, this shows that the wind blows towards the direction due North-West. Houses which are facing South-East have more air ventilation in which gets the most wind breeze into the interior of the house.

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Legend

Windspeed and Magnitude from 11th September 10 p.m. to 14th September 10 p.m.

Diagram 1(a): Micro-wind rose diagram of Petaling Jaya

Legend

Windspeed and Magnitude Monthly Average from January to December of Petaling Jaya

Diagram 1(b): Macro-wind rose diagram of Petaling Jaya

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D.3.2 VENTILATION INVESTIGATED IN CHOSEN ROOM

Figure 17: shows the wind movement through the doors, sliding doors and windows in the house. The air movements are more likely affected by the daily basis of human activities within the house. The ventilation starts when the occupants reach home and access through the main door, wind began to enter the house and circulate as shown in Figure 3 The sliding door will be constantly opened. When the occupants dwell in the living room for some activities, the window will be opened and more air breeze into the living room. Due to the most of door within the house is usually left-open, the air will then flow directly into the kitchen and the laundry room through the door. The guest's room will rarely any circulation of wind within the room itself because the door is closed at most of the time.

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Figure 18: the air could flow into the upper part of the house through the staircase. The air could enter and leaves the building through the opening of the balcony, casement window on the first floor of the house. The air can circulate around of house. Outdoor air enters and leaves a house by: infiltration, natural ventilation, and mechanical ventilation. As infiltration occurs, outdoor air flows into the house through openings, floors, and ceilings, and around windows and doors. In natural ventilation, air moves through opened windows and doors into the house. Air movement allied with infiltration and natural ventilation in which caused by difference in air temperature between indoors and outdoors and by wind.

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E. CONCLUSION

From this project, we concluded that it is not an easy way to maintain the temperature and relative humidity at the comfort zone as we are staying in the tropical climate country. So we have to know the factors affecting the thermal comfort in order to obtain a better lifestyle in the interior living spaces. Our case study which located at Kota Damansara had undergo three days of data logging and came to a conclusion that it actually felt out from the comfort zone. However, the residents thought of many solutions to reduce the discomfort. In my case study, the arrangement of windows openings in the house and the plantation of greeneries and small water pond did actually helped in increasing the relative humidity and air velocity to decrease the temperature of surrounding air. Arrangement of windows opening parallel to the wall did assist in creating cross ventilation in the room and maintain a highly ventilated environment for them. Good ventilation is an important issue for the person to stay inside a living space for a long period of time and being healthy. Another solution that can be carried out by the resident is create a stack ventilation which is even more efficient than the cross ventilation. Existence of the balcony at the front faade and having tall trees at the side faade are all the shading devices used in our case study. They smartly used the building structural form and also natural plantation to prevent direct sunlight penetrating and at the same time increased the aesthetic value. There are still many solutions to use to solve the current environment issue to maintain a comfortable and habitat able living space to enjoy the great feel of being home.

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F. REFERENCES

Aqualux Carpet Cleaning Dallas (2009), Benefits of Natural Stone Flooring, Retrieved September 26, 2013, from http://www.aqualuxcarpetcleaning.com/tips/benefits-of-natural-stone-flooring/

AZo Journal of Materials Online (2013), Aluminium - Advantages and Properties of Aluminium, Retrieved September 22, 2013, from http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1446

Bristile Roofing (2011), Benefits of Roof Tiles, Retrieved September 28, 2013, from http://www.bristileroofing.com/au/sustainability/benefits-of-roof-tiles

Build Direct (2013), The Advantages of Ceramic Tiles, Retrieved September 26, 2013, fromhttp://www.builddirect.com/PorcelainTile/CeramicTileArticles/The_Advantages _of Ceramic_Tiles.aspx

Caroline Rye, C. & Scott, C. (2012), The SPAB Research Report 1: U-value Report. Society for the Protection Ancient Buildings; UK.

Health and Safety Executive (2013), Thermal Comfort: The Six Basic Factors, Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/thermal/index.htm

Malaysian Timber Council (2006), MTC Wood Wizard: Chengal, Retrieved September 25, 2013, from http://woodwizard.my/report.asp?ItemID=22
51

Mid-Atlantic Masonry Heat Inc, (2011), Understanding Thermal Comfort, Retrieved September 22, 2013, from http://www.radianthomeheating.org/understandingthermalcomfort.html The Physics Classroom (2013), Heat and Temperature: Methods of Heat Transfer, Retrieved September 21, 2013, from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/thermalP/u18l1e.cfm TimeandDate (2013), Hour-by-hour forecast for Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Retrieved September 11 September 14, 2013, from http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/malaysia/kuala-lumpur/hourly

Tukiainen, M (2013), GAISMA: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Sunrise, Sunset, Dawn and Dusk Times, Table, Retrieved September 20, 2013, from http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/kuala-lumpur.html University of the West of England (2006), Faculty of the Built Environment: Insulation Contents, Retrieved September 23, 2013, from https://environment7.uwe.ac.uk/resources/constructionsample/Conweb/walls/insulatio n/print.htm

Panchyk, K. (1984), Solar Interiors: Energy-Efficient Spaces Designed for Comfort, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company Inc.; USA

Wiley, J. & Son (1985), Sun, Wind, and Light,: Which Passive Cooling Strategy is Right for You, V. Cartwright:; USA.

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G. APPENDIX DATA LOGGER READINGS From 11th September at 10.00pm to 14th September at 10.00pm
Place 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 Date 11/9/13 11/9/13 11/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 12/9/13 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 Indoor Indoor Outdoor Outdoor Time Humidity (%) Temperature (C) Temperature (C) Humidity (%) 22:00 72.5 28.9 27 89 23:00 72.7 29 27 89 0:00 73.8 28.8 27 84 1:00 73.3 28.7 26 94 2:00 73.1 28.7 26 89 3:00 73.6 28.5 24 94 4:00 76.3 27.9 24 100 5:00 75.9 27.8 24 100 6:00 77.2 27.4 24 94 7:00 76.3 27.4 24 100 8:00 77.3 27.3 27 79 9:00 76.8 27.5 29 74 10:00 76.2 27.9 30 66 11:00 72.7 28.3 32 59 12:00 66.9 28.8 32 59 13:00 63.1 29.4 31 66 14:00 64.9 29.8 31 70 15:00 66.2 29.6 30 70 16:00 67.4 29.5 30 70 17:00 67.2 29.4 30 70 18:00 66.3 29.5 30 66 19:00 67.2 29.5 29 74 20:00 65.4 29.3 28 79 21:00 65.3 29.3 27 84 22:00 67.7 29 27 84 23:00 68.1 28.9 26 89 0:00 67.4 28.6 26 89 1:00 66.2 28.5 26 89 2:00 70.8 28.6 26 89 3:00 72.2 28.5 25 94 4:00 71.3 28.6 25 94 5:00 71.5 28.5 25 94 6:00 72.7 28.4 25 94 7:00 73.8 28.3 25 94 8:00 73.4 28.3 25 94 9:00 74.1 28.4 26 89 10:00 72.5 28.7 30 75 11:00 70.6 28.8 31 62
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40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74

13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 13/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013 14/9/2013

12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 0:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

68.1 66.8 68.1 73.9 74.4 75.5 73.6 75.8 77.1 76.2 77.4 77.7 78.1 78.3 77.9 77.3 77.2 76.4 76.2 76.6 76.8 77.4 76.2 75.4 74.6 75.5 74.3 73.9 73.5 73.8 74.4 74.5 74.6 73.9 75

29 29.2 29.3 28.9 28.3 28.2 28 28.2 28.1 28.1 28.1 28.1 28.1 28 28.1 28 28 27.9 27.9 27.9 27.9 28 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.4 28.5 28.5 28.6 28.8 28.8 28.8 28.6 28.6 28.7

32 32 33 25 24 24 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 25 26 28 30 30 32 31 31 30 28 28 27 26 26 26

59 63 56 94 94 100 89 89 94 94 94 100 94 100 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 89 84 75 75 67 70 70 70 79 79 84 89 89 94

average

72.9630137 28.50410959 27.1369863 84.12328767

max. min.

78.3 63.1

29.8 27.3

33 24

100 56

Indoor design conditions dry bulb temperature 23-26C minimum dry bulb temperature 22 design relative humidity 55%-70% Air movement m/s 0.15 - 0.50 Maximum air movement 0.7 m/s

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DATA OF EXTERIOR CLIMATE 11th September 2013

55

12th September 2013

56

13th September 2013

57

14th September 2013

58

59

60