Analysis of Energy Demand of Building Envelope Modification Schemes in Hot-Humid Areas

Since the Kyoto Protocol signed in December 1997, the majority of governments around the world have committed themselves to reducing the emission of the greenhouse gases. Thus, efficient use of energy and sustainability has become a key issue for the most energy policies. It is known that cooling energy demand of a building can play an important part in building total energy consumption. In addition, most cooling energy has been lost from building envelope. In hot-humid climate, heat insulation becomes a more important issue for its heat storage capacity of the envelope energy efficiency of the building. In this paper, building envelope modification schemes and the energy consumption simulation on a typical building model are constructed to show the importance of thermal mass in hot-humid areas, using TRNSYS, an energy consumption-simulation software. Eleven cases are examined throughout the simulation process and the basic condition of the building and ten other cases of energy efficient envelope design are studied. The results show that the energy saving effect of thermal insulation of walls is not remarkable in Hot Summer, Warm Winter Region; however, energy efficient window design seems the most effective method by improving the window material and shading devices so as to prevent the heat transfer from outdoor to indoor. The energy saving rate of window is up to 33.89%.