Passive Design Strategies for Energy Efficient Housing in Nigeria
Date
2017-07-03Abstract
The varying manifestations of climate change are greatly impacting our lives and livelihoods principally due to the activities of industries that pollute the atmosphere and use up non-renewable resources to fuel our growth and development. It is estimated that approximately one third of the worlds energy is consumed within buildings of which approximately 60% is through air conditioning systems. The aim of this research is to investigate various passive design strategies to improve the energy efficiency of a typical mass housing type in Nigeria. A case study of mass housing was carried out to select a sample that was used to conduct a thermal analysis using EnergyPlus tool. The first stage was optimising the building fabric which involved proposing a sustainable alternative to the conventional masonry material. Next was the application of passive strategies aimed at achieving lower energy load for cooling. The building simulation showed a significant 30% reduction in cooling. This is significant particularly because of the inadequate and unreliable electricity supply in Nigeria which leads to reliance on fuel based backup power generation systems.
Description
Citation : Abbakyari, M. and Taki, A. (2017) Passive Design Strategies for Energy Efficient Housing in Nigeria. PLEA2017 Edinburgh Conference 3-5 July 2017
Research Group : Architecture Research Group
Research Institute : Institute of Architecture
Peer Reviewed : Yes