A REVIEW ON PASSIVE DESIGN CONFIGURATIONS EFFECTS ON NATURAL VENTILATION PERFORMANCE IN MULTI-STOREY RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS OF TROPICAL CLIMATES

Abstract

Energy consumption and quality of indoor environment are the main challenges for multi-story residential buildings in tropical climates. MSRB users rely heavily on mechanical ventilation systems due to local climate conditions. Various studies revealed that natural ventilation can enhance thermal comfort indoor air quality and energy efficiency in multi-storey residential buildings. However, the application effects of passive design configurations in multi-storey residential buildings to improve natural ventilation performance for adequate thermal comfort and indoor air quality is still questionable. This paper focuses on reviewing studies that evaluated the application effects of passive design configurations on natural ventilation performance in multi-story residential buildings of tropical climates. By comparative analysis, on the efficiency and the limitation of the passive design configurations applied to achieve effective natural ventilation, suitable thermal comfort, and indoor air quality. Among the identified design configurations thermal comfort level, indoor air quality and natural ventilation performance are mostly enhanced through adequate building orientation, vertical voids, window configurations, and ventilation shafts. It was also found that studies mainly rely on CFD simulation and field measurement methods for the evaluation. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of other passive design configurations for further evaluation in multi-story residential buildings.