An investigation of shading devices in a hot region: A case study in a school building

Abstract

Thermal comfort preference in primary schools is quite crucial because of the difficulty of young students to show and reflect their actual status of comfort: they may come with a jacket early morning in winter, but they may not take it off later in the afternoon. Little research on thermal comfort has been done in educational buildings globally as compared to other types of buildings such as working places. This research was focused on the ultimate type of shading devices in relation to thermal energy performance such as indoor air temperature, solar heat gain, and day-lighting from one side and thermal comfort preference from the other. In this research, we used a variety of tools such as thermal imaging cameras, TAS EDSL software. There is a clear lack in economical perspective for the users in this region to try to adapt without heavy reliance on air-conditioning systems, one of the major contribution of this study is to provide alternatives for sustainable buildings. We observed that vertical shading systems were generally more preferable for efficient shading in hot regions.