A Study on the Impact of Operational Behavior on Cooling Energy in Highly-Glazed Academic Buildings in a Tropical Country

Non-commercial buildings such as those in institutes of higher learning are unique that their occupancies vary throughout a day and year depending mainly on the students’ activities. When operated with a large scale air conditioning system, the annual energy consumption of such buildings can be very high. In tropical countries, glazed buildings experience high energy cost due to the significant heat gain from the solar radiation. With uncertainties in the cost and availability of local and global energy nowadays, a study on the actual cooling load of a building system should be performed to reduce the energy consumption. The objective of this paper is to study the effects of operational behavior to the cooling energy of highly glazed academic buildings. The study is conducted by computer simulation using EnergyPlus software on selected air-conditioned occupied areas. The potential savings in energy as a result of various proposed strategies in view of the gaps in the present operation are estimated based on computer simulation. In the aspect of operation, the effects of reducing the set point air temperature are also studied. It is found from the present study that there are significant potentials for savings in the cooling energy of the buildings.