Enhancing Thermal Comfort in Mosques of Malaysia through Passive and Low-Energy Approach

Nabeeha Amatullah, Azmi (2022) Enhancing Thermal Comfort in Mosques of Malaysia through Passive and Low-Energy Approach. Masters thesis, Faculty of Engineering.

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Abstract

Mosques have intermittent operational schedules with short-term occupancy during the five daily prayers. The occupancy level of the daily prayers is a fraction compared to the mandatory Friday prayers with full occupancy. Yet, the same air-conditioning system is operated within the same large prayer hall to maintain the thermal comfort of the occupants. This results in high energy usage in the mosque while oftentimes the thermal comfort requirements are not met due to the short span of operation. The current research aims at employing passive and low energy design approaches in order to achieve better thermal comfort in mosques whilst maintaining energy efficiency and reduced electricity wastage. With that in view, thermal comfort is assessed and analysed holistically to ensure suitable comfort conditions are maintained during the low occupancy daily prayer times without the need for mechanical intervention. CFD simulations are carried out on a validated model of the case study building to investigate the impact of the west facing Qiblah wall as the congregation stands in proximity to this wall. The design alternatives are tested in conjunction with ventilation strategies to assess the thermal comfort of the occupants in terms of both the PMV-PPD and adaptive model. Results show that as much as 4-6 °C reduction in indoor wall surface temperature can be achieved with a suitable Qiblah wall design, which reduces the mean radiant temperature of the congregation by 2-4 °C. This significantly improves the thermal comfort of the occupants for all the prayer timings with more than a 20% reduction of PMV achieved for the afternoon and evening prayers. Calculations from both thermal comfort models suggest that suitable comfort conditions can be achieved without the need for any air-conditioning for at least two of the five daily prayers. The energy implications of such measures can be as much as 28% reduction in the yearly energy consumption of mosques. Using a passive approach towards design also shifts the comfort temperature range by 4-7 °C which would have a tremendous impact on the energy efficiency of mosque buildings. This also opens up many research possibilities on the HVAC designing of mosques that may be addressed by future researchers.

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