Term 2 Research Paper

Term 2 Research Paper
PASSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR OFFICE BUILDINGS IN COIMBATORE –

OPTIMIZATION OF OCCUPANT AND EQUIPMENT DENSITY TO ACHIEVE
THERMAL COMFORT.
AA E+E Environment & Energy Studies Programme Architectural Association School of

Architecture Graduate School. MsC + March Sustainable Environmental Design 2019-2020
Ponshankar Bhuvanasundar 24th April 2020

Passive Strategies for Thermal Comfort of Office Buildings in Coimbatore – Optimization of Occupant and
Equipment Density to achieving thermal comfort, M.Arch E+E Sustainable Environmental Design 2019 -
2020
2
2020
Authorship Declaration Form
AA SED ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION GRADUATE SCHOOL
PROGRAMME: M.Arch SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN 2019-20
SUBMISSION RESEARCH PAPER 1
PAPER TITLE PASSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR OFFICE BUILDINGS

IN COIMBATORE – OPTIMIZATION OF OCCUPANT AND
EQUIPMENT DENSITY TO ACHIEVE THERMAL COMFORT.
NUMBER OF WORDS
(excluding footnotes and
references) 4124 words
STUDENT NAME: PONSHANKAR BHUVANASUNDAR
DECLARATION:
“I certify that the contents of this document are entirely my own work and that any
quotation or
paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of others is duly acknowledged.”
Signature:
Date: 24 April 2020
3
2020
Contents
1 Introduction and background. ........................................................................................................... 9
2 Climate and Context: ........................................................................................................................ 9
2.1 Wind and Humidity:................................................................................................................. 10
............................................................................................................................................................ 11
3 Adaptive Thermal Comfort: ............................................................................................................ 12
4 Impact of occupants and occupancy on Building performance : .................................................... 12
4.1 Occupant Density: .................................................................................................................... 12
4.2 Occupant behaviour: ................................................................................................................ 13
5 Office spaces: .................................................................................................................................. 13
6 Experimental Study: ........................................................................................................................ 14
6.1 Evolution of the office space: .................................................................................................. 14
6.2 Model & Assumptions: ............................................................................................................ 15
6.3 Simulation Parameters : ........................................................................................................... 15
7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 18
8 References ....................................................................................................................................... 20
9 Dissertation Project Proposal .......................................................................................................... 21
9.1 Descriptive Title ....................................................................................................................... 21
9.2 Overview .................................................................................................................................. 21
9.3 Research questions: .................................................................................................................. 21
9.4 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 22
9.5 Outcomes ................................................................................................................................. 22
4
2020
5
2020
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude towards my tutors, Simos Yannas and Paula Cadima who
have guided me at various stages of the research paper in the tutorials. They provided valuable
advice regarding the structure and content of the research.
I would like to thank Jorge Rodriguez for providing me with the tutorials to carry out natural
ventilation simulations using energy plus and openstudio.
My sincere that to Ar. Bhuvanasundar who provided me with all the details of the office space that
was used in the experimental simulations.
My heartfelt gratitude goes out to my family, for continuous support and motivation I have received
from them.
6
2020
7
2020
Abstract
The office spaces in toady’s date are mostly air conditioned. The standard of the working
environment is degrading because of this growing trend. The density in the office buildings are also
a major reason for the requirement of AC’s because today’s offices are crammed with a lot of
people due to reasons like high rent and real estate prices. Considering the government offices in
the state of TamilNadu, India which are still running with fan assisted natural ventilation other
offices could also be made free running while still maintaining good thermal comfort. This efficient
functioning of the government offices is possible due to high ceilings and heavy roof with high
thermal mass. An office space was taken and simulated to understand the effects of occupant
density. This particular office was chosen since the entire history of evolution of that office was
available and so was the operational schedules of the occupants and equipment. This optimization
of occupant density not only helps in maintaining the thermal comfort without the assistance of
mechanical ventilation but also in saving fuel utilized in transport between the house and the office.
8
2020
1 Introduction and background.
Office spaces are one of the most used spaces by people after their homes. Most of the office
spaces are air-conditioned in today’s scenario. The standards for the density of an office space in
India is about 10sqm / person (National Building code of India, 2016). Most of the offices in
Coimbatore belongs to small and medium scale enterprises. These offices are conservative in
terms of space usage. They tend to cram their offices with as many people as possible. Since the
density of the workspace increases the use of air- conditioners increase with their set points
sometimes being kept as low as 160 C. This trend has huge effects on the energy usage and also
thermal comfort of the occupants.
The aim of this research paper is to investigate the potential of natural ventilation in an office with
respect to the occupant density and further establish some guidelines and preliminary design
precedents for contemporary office buildings. Certain buildings were studied and experimental
simulations on a workspace was conducted to optimize the density for thermal comfort and natural
ventilation.
Before 20 years most of the workspaces in Coimbatore were naturally ventilated or used minimum
mechanical means (fan-forced ventilation) . This was possible due to less internal heat gains. At
that point of time the major form of heat gains were people. The lack of availability and affordability
of air-conditioners and less implementation of equipment like computers were also part of the
reasons for the offices to function in the above-mentioned way.
The research methodology was based on the architectural analysis of the evolution of office
spaces. Firstly, the climate and the context of the city of Coimbatore has been discussed. Further,
an overview of the impact of occupancy on energy usage and thermal comfort has been analyzed
with the study of a series of research papers and literatures and experimental simulations. A 30-
year old office which is currently being used has been taken for the purpose of the simulation.
Along with the simulation the evolution of the same workspace was also studied. The occupancy
and equipment schedules were also acquired to be used in the primary simulation and later they
were changed and optimized to understand the impacts of occupancy. To conclude a series of
guidelines were later formulated to convert the office from mechanical to natural ventilation.
2 Climate and Context:
Figure 2.1.1 – Location of Coimbatore (Source : http://www.maphill.com/india/tamil-

nadu/coimbatore/location-maps/physical-map/
9
2020
Figure 2.1.2 – Graph showing the climatic data of Coimbatore (Source: Ladybug)
The studies in the paper are based in the city of Coimbatore (11.010N, 76.950 E) located in the
state of Tamil Nadu . Tamil Nadu is one the 29 states in India situated in the south as shown in
Fig.2.1.1. Koppen Geiger climate classification defines this area as a BS or dry, semi-arid climate,
which is also referred to as steppe climate. The city of Coimbatore has 8 main lakes in and around
the city. Due to its location in the inland, high altitude (411m) and the surrounding of the mountain
ranges the temperature ranges in this city are almost constant with slight variations owing to the
other local conditions like rain etc. Coimbatore experiences three definitive seasons summer
(March -May), winter (December-January) and the monsoons (June-December).
Figure 2.1.2 shows that the summers are mainly during the months of March and April. The
maximum day time temperature rises upto 37.30C while at night the temperatures reach up to
23.60C. The humidity reaches 70% – 80% during the monsoons. During the winter period the
temperatures reach up to a maximum of 31.30 C and drops to a minimum of 16.50C.
2.1 Wind and Humidity:

The average monthly wind speed in Coimbatore ranges from 1.5m/s to 4.6m/s as shown in Fig
2.1.2. The average wind speed of the year is 2.8m/s. The average wind speed gradually increase
from the end of the summer and reaches the highest speed during the mid of June which is the
start of monsoon and then keeps decreasing towards the winter season. This shows that the
highest precipitation periods are accompanied by high wind speeds which are the characteristics of
the monsoon.
Fig 2.1.3 shows the temperature vs relative humidity data for the city of Coimbatore. Highlighting
the working hours for both the cities helps in understanding and what strategies could be effective
during the office hours (9 AM - 5:00 PM). Table 2.1.1 shows the diurnal temperature ranges of the
city of Coimbatore through different months of the year. This shows that the use of Thermal mass
will be highly effective.
10
2020
Figure 2.1.3 – Graph showing the Temperature vs Relative Humidity of Coimbatore (Source:
Ladybug)
Months Coimbatore
Jan 14 K
Feb 15.5 K
Mar 16 K
April 15 K
May 16 K
June 15 K
July 11.5 K
August 10.6 K
September 13 K
October 12 K
November 13.5 K
December 15 K
Table 2.1.1 – Graph showing the Temperature vs Relative Humidity of Coimbatore (Source:
Ladybug)
11
2020
3 Adaptive Thermal Comfort:
The ASHRAE and its European counterpart’s adaptive thermal comfort model takes into
consideration the behavioral and psychological adaptation of humans into consideration. But the
influence of humidity and air speed is also huge on the adaptive thermal comfort since they
influence the heat regulation of the human body. The indoor humidity also plays a major part in
heat regulation of the body (sweat prompted evaporative cooling), the physiological phenomena
through which body releases heat. The air velocity is another important factor which helps in
convective heat exchange between the body and the air. It also acts as a catalyst to the
evaporative cooling process of the body. In Fig 3.1.1 it could be understood that the comfort band
varies with change in the relative humidity, Low RH <37%, Medium 37% < RH < 59%, High RH >
59%. The adaptive thermal comfort in naturally broader for people in naturally ventilated building
compared to the people in air conditioned buildings.
Table 3.1.1 – Graph showing the proposed new and existing adaptive thermal comfort models
(Source: The influence of Relative Humidity on adaptive thermal comfort, 2017)
4 Impact of occupants and occupancy on Building performance :
4.1 Occupant Density:

The prescribed occupant density for office buildings in India is 10m2/person (National Building
Code of India, 2016). Even the defined standard of office occupant density in UK is 10m2/ person
(Tomas Swett, 2013). It looks like the office occupant density standard is similar in most parts
around the world. This kind of an occupant density in Coimbatore is very rare. Most of the offices
are crammed with a lot of people and has a density of 5m2/person or less which could be seen in
an example in the following section. The occupant densities take into account the entire office area
and the number of people occupying it but the distribution of the density is an important thing to
note. In Fig. it could be seen that the office density is 10m2/ person but it’s distribution to the
12
2020
spaces vary making certain spaces vulnerable thereby increasing the use of mechanical means to
achieve comfort.
The occupant density also influences the interior space layouts of the offices and vice versa.
Architectural design often affects the performance of a building which is why energy efficient
design is studied ( Pacheco.R ,Ordonez J, Martinez G , 2012). Space layout design is one of the
most important tasks in architectural design, taking place around the stages of ‘scheme design’
and ‘design development’ in the early phase (Tiantian Du, Sabine Jansen, Michela Turrin, 2020).
4.2 Occupant behaviour:
Occupants have a stochastic and diverse nature and their impact on building operation is
significant (O’Brien & Gunay, 2015). The occupants are one of the active agents interacting with
the building components like lighting, cooling, heating etc which have an impact on the energy use
of the buildings. They could increase the energy consumption by a factor of two or even more
(Haldi & Robinson, 2011). The schedules are diversity factors which account for variations in
occupancy , Lighting and plug loads during the week ( Tareq Abuimara, Burak Gunay, Willam O’
Brien, 2019). But in this paper the schedules of occupants, lighting and equipment have been kept
constant without any variations which might have resulted in higher operative temperatures. So in
the further research defined patterns of occupant behavior should be considered to avoid the
performance gap between the simulation and real life scenario.
5 Office spaces:
The office spaces are one of the most important typologies in the world. The office spaces have
evolved drastically in the past 20 years. In the city of coimbatore still some of the government
offices are functioning with natural ventilation assisted with minimal mechanical means (fan-forced
ventilation). The architectural evolutions of the office typology is one of the main reasons for the
offices being air conditioned today.
The architectural evolution could not be blamed because the reason for its evolution is mainly
globalisation and exponential increase in the population. As shown in Fig 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 the most
of the old office buildings had high ceilings with heavy roofs having high thermal mass. With the
increase in the demand for the offices the start of multi storied office buildings happened. This
eventually lead to low ceiling heights and more space to accommodate the necessities.
Apart from the critical changes in the architectural features the occupant density also increased.
Along with this the technological development also increased the equipment density along with the
occupants. This started leading to high internal heat gains in the offices. Slowly the need for air
conditioners also increased. In the upcoming section 6 the evolution of an office space has been
discussed in all of the above mentioned aspects.
Figure 5.1.1 –Old Office building high ceiling & Thermal mass Figure 5.1.2 – Old Government Office which is still functioning
Source (Google images) Source (hindusthantimes.com)
13
2020
6 Experimental Study:
To understand the impacts of some passive strategies like optimization of density, Window Wall
Ratio (WWR) and thermal mass in the city of Coimbatore an office space which has been in use
since 1998 till now was chosen. This particular space was chosen for the study because all the
information about the evolution of the office space and occupant and equipment schedules were
acquired from the owner of the office.
6.1 Evolution of the office space:
As shown in Fig 6.1.1 the office space kept evolving for every 2 -4 years’ time period. The office
was initially completely naturally ventilated. Spaces like the reception, cabins, conference hall and
the server room had air-conditioning available but was only used when the clients visited, and this
has been the trend ever since. The workspace saw the introduction of the air conditioning in 2010
when the density of people and equipment increased in the open office workspace. Ever since the
air conditioning has been in use throughout the year even during the winters. The earlier used
pantry was converted into 3d department in 2004 with an addition of 3 people with that increasing
to 6 people today. Since that room was very small it as been air conditioned since the day of
conversion. In today’s scenario the spaces like the reception, cabins, conference hall, server room
and the library are completely naturally ventilated with an assist of fan-forced ventilation throughout
the year. Fig 6.1.2 shows the 1998 vs 2019 open office while the Fig 6.1.3 shows evolution in the
layout and occupant density of the office.
Figure 6.1.1 – Evolution of the open office from 1998 – present

year Library 3D Department Open Office Cabin Conference Cabin
Hall
Reception
5.48 10.89
7.64 3.47 5.07

4.95 11.24
Social
Private Office density – 13.6m2/person (1998)
Shared
Shared / Private
5.48 10.89
7.64 1.48 1.81

4.95 11.24
Office density – 5.2m2/person (2019)
Figure 6.1.3 – (a)Office plan with people density in 1998, (b)Office

Figure 6.1.2 – (a) open office from 1998, (b)Open plan with people density, present. Density in (m2/person) Source
office at present. Source (Office occupant) (Author)
14
2020
6.2 Model & Assumptions:
Figure 6.2.1 – Open Office workspace with existing window Figure 6.2.2 – Open Office workspace with changed
size 2.4m x 2.4m. Source – Openstudio window size 2.4m x 1.2m. Source – Openstudio.
The office was modelled in Openstudio as shown in Fig 6.2.1 and Fig 6.2.2 and the simulations
were performed on the open office workspace to understand the impacts of changes in window
size and occupant densities to see whether natural ventilation with fan assistance is possible. To
conduct these simulations a lot of assumptions had to be made. Some of the assumptions and
used technical values were
- The material properties
- Wall - Brick (u-value - 2.03)
- Wall Finish - White paint interior and exterior
- Window - single glazed 6mm glass (u-value - 5.7)
- Roof - concrete roof 230mm (Adiabatic condition)
- Ceiling Finish (White Paint)
- Floor - concrete slab 230mm (Adiabatic condition)
- Floor Finish - Dark coloured tiles.
- Internal partitions - 115mm brick wall
- Lighting density – 10W/m2
- Occupant’s Activity level - 120 W
- Occupant’s clothing level - 0.5 clo
- Desktop Computer + Monitor heat output- 100 W
- Laptop heat output - 50 W
- Office timings (9:00 AM - 6:00 PM )
- Office break timing (12:00 PM - 1:00 PM )
- Windows are always open and the air changes shown in the next point.
- Natural Cross Ventilation (9.34 ACH obtained from Optivent )
- Occupancy of other spaces
- Cabins (1-person occupancy with timings 9:00AM - 12:00PM, 1:00PM -
6:00PM)
- Conference Hall (Sporadic occupancy)
- Reception ( 1 person always occupancy with sporadic intervention)
- 3D Room ( 6 people occupancy with same timings as cabins)
- Library (Sporadic occupancy)
- Server Room (Only one server computer )
- All the office occupants are considered to have an equipment (computer)
6.3 Simulation Parameters :
Simulation Steps Occupant Density Equipment Density Window size
1 24 people 100W / person (desktop) 2.4m x 2.4m

(1.65m2/ person)
15
2020
Simulation Steps Occupant Density Equipment Density Window size
(1.65m2/ person)

(2.2m2/ person)
(3.3m2/ person)
(6.6m2/ person)
6 12 people 50W / person (laptop) 2.4m x 1.2m
(3.3m2/ person)
These simulations were done to understand the impacts of the parameters as mentioned in the
table on the performance of the open workspace. As shown in Fig 6.3.1 the difference in the
performance could be seen for the different cases. The reduction of east window size to half
reduces 10 C in the internal temperature mostly in the morning periods due to the reduction of solar
gains and addition of the thermal mass (extra wall material). It is very important to reduce the solar
gains in the east owing to the higher morning working hours of the office. Reduction of every 6
people sees a reduction 0f 0.50 C in the internal temperature. Just by adjusting the window size
and reducing the number of people from 24 to 6 we are able to reduce the internal temperature by
20 – 30 C. But reducing the people from 24 to 6 reduces the efficiency in the utilization of space. But
by replacing the desktop computers to laptops we could accommodate 12 people and maintain the
same performance as 6 people with desktops. Fig 6.3.1 also shows the standard ASHRAE comfort
band in grey colour while pink band shows the extension of adaptive thermal comfort as discussed
in section 3 before. According to the extended comfort band the space remains in complete
comfort with only natural ventilation. The operative temperature could be further reduced just by an
addition of a fan in the space.
Figure 6.3.1 – Summer week performance of the Workspace April 1st - 7th
Source : (Author, Openstudio)
16
2020
Figure 6.3.2 – Monsoon week performance of the Workspace July 14th - 20th Source: (Author)
According to Fig 6.3.2 the total performance gains during the monsoon week of July is also up to
20 C similar to the performance gains achieved during the summer week. The performance gains
for the reduction of the window size is like 0.20 – 0.50 which is less compared to 10C during the
summer. This is owing to less solar gains and better wind speeds during the monsoon compared to
the summer. Whereas most of the performance gains achieved happened due to the reduction in
the occupant density of the space i.e. 0.50 C less for the reduction of every 6 people, the same as
summer week. This helps in maintaining the internal temperature between 27.50 – 29.50 C just with
Figure 6.3.3 – Winter week performance of the Workspace December 24th - 31st
Source: (Author), Openstudio.
17
2020
natural ventilation. Even the need of the fan-forced ventilation might not be needed that much
compared to the summer.
The Fig 6.3.3 shows the performance during winter week of December. As it could be observed the
solar radiation during the winter is more in the winter than the monsoon which also makes this
period equally important as other seasons. The performance gain is similar to other seasons. The
reduction in the window sizes in the east helps in higher reduction of the temperatures in the
morning times than after lunch time, the same as summer.
In all the figures 6.3.1 during summer most of simulated internal temperatures are equal or less
than the outdoor temperature which shows the effectiveness of thermal mass. While in the
monsoons as shown in Fig 6.3.2 the effectiveness of thermal mass could not be justified even
though the diurnal variation is around 10K, this is because of the high cloud cover resulting in very
less global horizontal radiation. In Fig 6.3.3 during the winter the ambient load is less compared to
the summer. So the internal temperatures are higher than the ambient temperature owing to the
internal loads.
In all the figures 6.3.1, 6.3.2 and 6.3.3 the grey band shows the adaptive thermal comfort band
according to the ASHRAE standards. The Fig 6.3.4 shows the high, medium and low RH periods
during the course of the year which was used in the extension of the adaptive thermal comfort
band, represented as the smaller pink bands.
Figure 6.3.4 – Differentiation of High, medium and low RH periods during

the course of the year Source: (Author)
7 Conclusion
The use of air conditioners in office space has become very common. But in a city like Coimbatore
most of the working class do not have the resources to afford an air conditioner. So spending a
major part of the day in the air conditioned offices and going back to the house without the air
conditioned environment will deteriorate the heath conditions of the people in both immediate and
the long term.
18
2020
The experimental simulations helped in understanding certain key passive parameters like
optimization of occupant density, reduction of solar gains in the morning hours and also utilization
of the thermal mass in achieving the thermal comfort inside an office space. The reduction in the
occupant density of the open office by half is helping in achieving better thermal comfort. The half
people removed from the workspace could be made to work from home and this could be vice
versa with both the halves. This in turn will help in reducing the usage of fuel for transport.
Averagely an employee travels 7-8 km a day leading to the use of 1 litre petrol for every 2 days .
So ultimately atleast 90 – 100 litres of petrol could be saved combining all the savings by all the
employees.The effectiveness of implementing low power equipment like laptops instead of
desktops observed in the simulations proves that it would be a major parameter in reducing the
energy usage and the operative temperature of existing office buildings. This could be an important
refurbishment measure for all existing office buildings.
Apart from these simulated measures there are other passive features like direct & indirect
evaporative cooling, shading and orientation that could be adopted in the future while designing
contemporary office spaces in Coimbatore. Looking at the diurnal temperatures of Coimbatore the
effective use of thermal mass has not been discovered in depth in this research paper. But it could
help in achieving even better thermal comfort with more people in the space i.e optimizing and
achieving balance between space and energy usage.
19
2020
8 References
1. Tiantian Du, Sabine Jensen, Michela Turrin , Andy van den Dobbelsteen (2020). Effects of
Architectural Space Layouts on Energy Performance : A Review. Netherlands: Faculty of
Architecture and the built Environment, Delft University of Technology.
2. Bureau of Indian Standards (2016). National Building Code of India Volume -1.
3. Tomas Swett (2013). Rethinking office building typology in Continental Mediterranean

climate. London : Architectural Association.
4. Marika Vellei, Manuel Herrera, Daniel Fosas, Sukumaran Natarajan (2017). The influence of
Relative Humidity on adaptive thermal comfort. Building and Environment
5. Tareq I. A. Abuimara, William O’Brien, H. Burak Gunay, Juan Sebastian Carrizo (2018).
Assessing the Impact of Changes in Occupants on Design Decision Making. Carleton
University, Ottawa, Canada. RWDI Consulting Engineers and Scientists, Toronto, Canada.
6. O’Brian, W., Gaetani, I., Gilani, S., Carlucci, S.Hoes, P.-J.,& Hensen,J. (2016). International
Survey on current occupant modelling approaches in building performance simulations.
Journal of Building Performance Simulation.
7. O’Brien, W., & Gunay, H. B. (2015). Mitigating office performance uncertainty of occupant
use of window blinds and lighting using robust design. In Building Simulation, Tsinghua
University Press.
8. Tareq I. A. Abuimara, William O’Brien, H. Burak Gunay (2019) Simulating the Impacts of
Occupants on Office Building Design: A Case study. Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
9. Haldi, F., & Robinson, D. (2011). Sc. Journal of Building Performance Simulations.
https://doi.org/10.1080/19401493.2011.558213.
20
2020
9 Dissertation Project Proposal
9.1 Descriptive Title
Studying and adopting passive strategies to achieve thermal comfort using natural ventilation in
office spaces.
9.2 Overview
Coimbatore is the second most important city of the state Tamil Nadu after Chennai. It is
actually one of the fastest growing tier -2 cities in India. Its manufactures include agricultural
implements and automotive components, and it is a major producer of software, second only to
Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Hence the importance of big and medium size offices have gained
huge importance in Coimbatore as it has become essential to compete in the international
arena.
Most of the offices are air conditioned in today’s scenario. These buildings have tremendous
amounts of energy consumption due to the dependence on air conditioner for most parts of the
year, making an unhealthy and artificial working environment. Using the traditional passive
design features that were adopted in the old colonial office buildings as discussed earlier in the
section 5 contemporary offices could be designed which could completely neglect its
dependence on the mechanical ventilation means except minimal means like fan, exhaust etc.
This particular concern regarding workspaces arises because they are the places most used
by people after their homes. The use of the apt passive features has kind of vanished leading
to arising of more and more energy consuming air conditioned office spaces.
Research Paper 2 acts as the starting point for the dissertation paper. The paper helps in
understanding the co-relation between the various passive features which will eventually help
in optimization of energy and space usage. The dissertation project would further investigate all
the other passive strategies to propose design solutions to mitigate the overheating caused in
the office spaces due to both solar and internal heat gains for most parts of the year.
Also looking at an office expenses it could be understood that the major expense of an office is
the salary for the employees. So the design will not only concentrate in achieving energy
efficient office spaces but also the one which increases the productivity of the employees.
There would be more studies about the vernacular architecture of the place to see in what way
it could be of interest in proposing new design guidelines for contemporary office buildings.
With the existing situation of the Corona virus work from home culture has increased
drastically. So the adoption of the work from home culture in the day to day office life could also
be implemented to save the transportation cost and energy. While proposing the design
guidelines, even operational guidelines could be investigated and proposed to achieve
maximum energy efficiency.
9.3 Research questions:

- Rain windows would help in preventing dust accumulation inside. But How effective will the
rain windows be in natural ventilation which in turn will help in maintaining thermal comfort?
- How effective will the high thermal mass combined with night ventilation be in different
seasons and also in reducing the operative temperatures inside the office ?
- How could the use of the traditional architectural design features like the courtyards and the
verandahs help in creating outdoor work spaces?
- How could the internal gains be adjusted in accordance with the passive features used in
the building to achieve thermal comfort without mechanical ventilation?
21
2020
9.4 Methodology
- Theoretical framework would be established with an extensive study of vernacular

architecture of the region keeping in mind the environmental performance.
- Context could then be critically discussed along with an extensive climate analysis.
- Study of certain built precedents in addition to the one is Research Paper 2 along with a
stong set of fieldwork. Some of the case studies are
-LMW office building, Coimbatore
-KSM architecture office, Chennai
9.5 Outcomes
The aim of this dissertation would be to develop a design proposal which could be the closest to
free running which could be of help in minimizing energy consumption and carbon footprint. Also
analyzing the operational energy guidelines like work from home and create a new working
typology that could be implemented in the future. The personal intent behind this dissertation is to
extend this study into the existing architectural practices of the city and try to find a way to create
designs which could be energy efficient as well as architecturally engaging.
22

Term 2 Research Paper

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Term 2 Research Paper

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Term 2 Research Paper

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Term 2 Research Paper

PASSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR OFFICE BUILDINGS IN COIMBATORE –

AA E+E Environment & Energy Studies Programme Architectural Association School of

Ponshankar Bhuvanasundar 24th April 2020

Authorship Declaration Form

AA SED ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION GRADUATE SCHOOL

PROGRAMME: M.Arch SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN 2019-20

SUBMISSION RESEARCH PAPER 1

PAPER TITLE PASSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR OFFICE BUILDINGS

(excluding footnotes and

references) 4124 words

STUDENT NAME: PONSHANKAR BHUVANASUNDAR

paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of others is duly acknowledged.”

Date: 24 April 2020

2 Climate and Context:

Figure 2.1.1 – Location of Coimbatore (Source : http://www.maphill.com/india/tamil-

2.1 Wind and Humidity:

4 Impact of occupants and occupancy on Building performance :

4.1 Occupant Density:

4.2 Occupant behaviour:

6.1 Evolution of the office space:

Figure 6.1.1 – Evolution of the open office from 1998 – present

7.64 3.47 5.07

7.64 1.48 1.81

Office density – 5.2m2/person (2019)

Figure 6.1.3 – (a)Office plan with people density in 1998, (b)Office

6.3 Simulation Parameters :

Simulation Steps Occupant Density Equipment Density Window size

1 24 people 100W / person (desktop) 2.4m x 2.4m

Simulation Steps Occupant Density Equipment Density Window size

3 18 people 100W / person (desktop) 2.4m x 1.2m

Figure 6.3.4 – Differentiation of High, medium and low RH periods during

3. Tomas Swett (2013). Rethinking office building typology in Continental Mediterranean

9.1 Descriptive Title

9.3 Research questions:

- Theoretical framework would be established with an extensive study of vernacular

You might also like