Toward Efficient Residential Buildings in Hot and Humid Climates

The design, construction, and operation of highly efficient residential buildings in hot and humid climates represent a unique challenge for architects, contractors, and building owners. In this paper, a case study on the performance of a residential building located in hot and humid location is presented. The building is a single-family house, which is modeled as a multi-zone building. The transient systems simulation program (TRNSYS) is used to simulate the building under Abu Dhabi’s typical meteorological year conditions. The results are presented in terms of the annual energy consumption and the indoor thermal comfort. The Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) is used to model the thermal comfort. In addition, the results of applying local building codes, Estidama, and international building codes, ASHRAE 90.2 and LEED, on the building’s performance are compared. The results will help in finding the effectiveness of these building standards in reducing the energy consumption of residential building in hot and humid regions.