At present, designing or renovating building with consciousness in energy efficiency is essential. By considering that office buildings play a major role in consuming energy of the entire nation, there have been a number of regulations and incentives launched to promote energy conservation in buildings. New building projects tend to be more energy-efficient, reduce impacts on environment, reduce waste, and improve well-being of the occupants.
The research focuses improving office buildings for energy conservation. The results would be used for designing prototype buildings. Standard office design of Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, 12-meter type, was chosen to be a case study. There are 2 typical plans: plan A and Plan B. Design variables include building orientation, wall material and operating time. Wall materials for testing are 1) 1-layer brick wall 2) 2-layer brick wall, and 3) Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC). Four building orientations considered are north, south, east, and west. There are 3 operating time options, T1: 8:00 am-6:00 pm, T2: 9:00 am-5:00 pm and T3: 8:30 am-12:00 pm and 1:00 pm-5:00 pm.
Results show that for naturally ventilated cases, indoor temperatures ranging from the lowest to the highest are from the building with one-layered brick wall, two-layered brick wall, and ACC, respectively. These are due to their thermal properties. ACC has the highest U-value resulting in collecting heat more than the others. Nonetheless, when building is air-conditioned, the best wall material for energy efficiency is ACC, followed by two-layer brick wall and one type brick wall respectively. (หรือ.......the results show reversed order.) The best orientation is building’s entrance facing west, followed by south, north, and east respectively. Plan B cases always show better performance.