Quantifying the Impact of Solar Shading on Cooling Loads in Hot and Humid climate of Kenya
This is a summary of paper presented in the Architectural Institute of Japan 2017.The study quantified impact of solar control measures on residential house cooling loads in hot and humid climate .The strategies evaluated were roof insulation ,reflective roof , overhangs and Low emissivity glass .The study made important findings and recommendations o passive design strategies .Roof insulation and reflective roof was found to have significant impact on thermal performance.
Abstract
This paper focuses on evaluating the impact of passive strategies on residential houses cooling energy in hot and humid climate of East Africa, the study focuses on solar heat gains control strategies and natural ventilation. The study is done on a typical residential house in Kenya and is implemented through building energy simulation tool Energyplus™. The performance of different solar shading schemes in both air conditioned and naturally ventilated house is investigated. Impact of natural ventilation in relation to solar
shading performance on cooling load and indoor thermal condition is also studied. It is established that roof insulation has the greatest impact on cooling load and indoor thermal conditions. Using roof insulation of R value 2.5 , cooling energy reduction of 63% can be achieved while reflective roof surface can reduce cooling load by 47%. Window overhang, low emissivity window glass and window blinds or curtains had a minimal impact on the cooling loads, between 2% to 4% cooling energy reduction was observed
